A SERIES OF PUBLICA-
TIONS RELATING TO THE
AMERICAN ABORIGINES
GUIDE TO THE MUSEUM
FIRST FLOOR
NEW YORK
MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN
HEYE FOUNDATION
1922
Tras series of Indian Notes and Mono-
graphs is devoted primarily to the publica-
tion of the results of studies by members of
the staff of the Museum of the American
Indian, Heye Foundation, and is uniform
with Hispanic Notes and Monographs,
published by the Hispanic Society of
America, with which organization this
Museum is in cordial co5peration.
Only the first ten volumes of Indian
Notes and Monographs are numbered.
The unnumbered parts may readily be deter-
mined by consulting the List of Publications
issued as one of the series.
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106 107 108
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PLAIN OF FIRST FLOOR
INDIAN NOTES
AND MONOGRAPHS
Edited by F. W. HODGE
A SERIES OF PUBLICA-
TIONS RELATING TO THE
AMERICAN ABORIGINES
GUIDE TO THE MUSEUM
FIRST FLOOR
NEW YORK
MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN
HEYE FOUNDATION
1922
UtU 1 7 ZU1U
£/BRAR«§.
3
CONTENTS
PAGE
Central Atlantic Area 6
Pequot, Mohegan, Delawares, Nanti-
coke, Powhatan tribes, Shawnee
Iroquoian Group 17
Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga,
Seneca, Wyandot, Huron, Tuscarora
Canoes 29
Central Algonkians 31
Sauk and Fox, Kickapoo, Potawatomi,
Menomini, Miami, Peoria
Southern Siouan Group 45
Winnebago, Iowa, Oto, Omaha, Ponca,
Osage, Kansa, Quapaw, Eastern Sioux
(Santee, Sisseton, Wahpeton)
Northern Algonkians 56
Chippewa, Cree, Ottawa
Southeastern Woodland Area 68
Choctaw, Creeks, Alibamu, Koasati,
Houma, Seminole, Chickasaw, Chero-
kee, Yuchi, Chitimacha, Catawba
Village Indians of the Plains 84
Pawnee, Wichita, Caddo, Arikara, Man-
dan, Hidatsa
The Plains Area 95
Southern: Comanche, Kiowa, Kiowa
Apache
Northern: Blackfoot, Assiniboin, Crow
Central: Teton Sioux, Cheyenne, Ara-
paho
INDIAN NOTES
4
GUIDE
Indians of the Northern Plateau 110
Shoshoni, Bannock, Nez Perces, Kliki-
tat, Umatilla, Topinish, Yakima,
Wasco, Flatheads, Kutenai
Indians of the Southern Plateau 120
Ute, Paiute
Desert Nomads 128
Apache, Navaho
Pueblo Area 138
Tanoan, Keresan, and Zufiian stocks, and
the Hopi
Western Sub-arctic Area 155
Athapascans: Loucheux, Chipewyan,
Sarci, Kawchodinne
Eastern Sub-arctic Area 162
Nascapee, Montagnais, Mistassini,
Tetes de Boule
Northeastern Woodland Area 170
Micmac, Abnaki, Malecite, Passama-
quoddy, Penobscot
Special Exhibits 179
Manhattan Model 180
Sacred Bundles 184
Silverwork 187
Native Beads. . . '. 189
Wampum 192
Food and its Preparation 197
Musical Instruments 199
Footgear 201
Scalps 202
Hunting Charms 203
Modern Beadwork 204
Porcupine-Quillwork 204
The Eskimo 206
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
ETHNOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS
FROM NORTHERN
AMERICA
^p HIS Guide is not designed to de-
•*• scribe all the collections exhibited,
EH) but rather is intended to give a
brief general outline of the character of
the various groups of Indians represented,
with such special reference to the objects
displayed as may be necessary to afford a
fair idea of the Indian life and customs.
It must not be understood that the collec-
tions on view are all that the Museum
possesses; indeed the limitation of space for
exhibition makes possible the display of
only a comparatively small proportion.
Even in those instances in which the
Museum is especially rich in objects per-
taining to the various culture groups, it has
been found practicable to exhibit only such
AND MONOGRAPHS
6
GUIDE
selection as will aim to give an impression
of what the American aborigines are and
what they did.
On entering the hall the visitor should
first view the collections in Cases 105 B and
106, flanking the main door, then proceed
eastward, around the hall, finally examining
the special exhibits in the middle cases
before entering the West Hall. Special
attention is directed to the exhibition
drawers in the floor cases, which contain
many garments and other objects pertain-
ing to the several Indian groups.
Additional ethnological collections from
the Indians of the United States and Canada
will be found on the Second Floor, for
which there is a special Guide. Reference
to the exhibits on the stairway is made in
the Guides to the floors to which they
appropriately pertain.
CENTRAL ATLANTIC AREA
(Cases 105 B, 106, 107 top, 108 top, 130,
131, 134, 135 A B drawers)
Along the Atlantic coast from Massa-
chusetts to Virginia, and westward from
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
Virginia into Kentucky, the first colonists
found a group of tribes speaking Algonkian
dialects, embracing such well-known peoples
as the Narraganset, the Pequot, and the
Mohegan, of the New England states,
Central Atlantic Area
the Delawares or Lenni Lenape of New
Jersey and Pennsylvania, the Nanticoke of
Delaware, the Powhatan tribes of Virginia,
and the Shawnee of Kentucky. Only
AND MONOGRAPHS
8
GUIDE
Agriculture
Mortars
105 B
106 B
107, 108
(top)
scattered remnants of these tribes are now
left in their ancient homes, remnants which
could offer little in the way of collections to
illustrate their old-time arts; but fortunately
the Museum has been able to gather many
specimens from the Delawares and the
Shawnee who migrated to Oklahoma and
to Canada, and have retained their ancient
mode of life in great measure until com-
paratively recent years. The eastern tribal
remnant contributing most to the collec-
tion is the Mohegan settlement near
Norwich, Conn.
The Indians mentioned are among those
to whom agriculture was highly important,
and furnished at least as great a part of
their food supply as did Jishing and the
chase. The crops raised were several
varieties of corn (maize) , a number of kinds
of beans, pumpkins, and squashes; and
sweet potatoes and melons are also men-
tioned by early travelers, not to speak of
tobacco. The fields were comparatively
small, however, and the only agricultural
implements were digging-sticks and crude
hoes with blades of stone, wood, or bone.
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
9
Corn was ground in wooden mortars with
pestles of wood or stone. A large wooden
cornsheller of the Nanticoke stands on the
floor at the east end of the hall.
Depending largely on agriculture, all
these tribes lived in settled villages, and
moved only when the fields became ex-
hausted and the firewood supply difficult to
obtain. This was a decided contrast to
the hunting peoples, who were obliged to
move about a great deal according to the
seasons for game and 'fish. Still-hunting
was a favorite method for getting game,
but deer-pounds were sometimes employed.
The typical bow for hunting was about five
feet long, rather flat and rectangular in
section, while the arrow often reached a
length of three feet. The nock of the arrow
was indented at the sides to give a better
hold for the fingers; the feathers were
usually three, but sometimes two. The
arrow with knobbed head for small game
was frequently used; for many years metal
points served for larger animals, but in
ancient times the arrowpoints were of
stone and of deer-antler. An early weapon
Bows
Arrows
106 A
Warclub
Tomahawk
106 A
AND MONOGRAPHS
10
GUIDE
Ceremonial
objects
105 B
made especially for warfare was the club
with a globular head carved from a solid
piece of wood; this in Colonial days was
largely displaced by the metal-bladed
tomahawk, of which several specimens are
shown. One of these is said to have been
the property of the noted Shawnee chief
Tecumseh, whose name is engraved upon the
blade. The Museum has no snowshoes
from this district, although they must have
been used in the northern portion.
For fishing we find not only spears, nets,
and rude hooks, but the use of basketry
fish-traps, and of dams or weirs of wattle-
work or of stones built across streams,
leaving a gap where a trap or pound was
arranged. To drive the fish into this
pound, a "bush-net," made of branches
tied together along a rope, was stretched
across the water some distance above, and
gradually dragged down-stream.
In one case is exhibited a collection
illustrating some of the ceremonies of this
group, obtained chiefly from the Delawares,
who with the Shawnee are the only tribes
which retained their ancient religion until
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
11
recent years. The Delawares held a great
ceremony every autumn, at which the people
gathered in a specially constructed "big
house" to give thanks to the Great Spirit
and to subordinate spirits, his helpers,
representing the powers of nature, for the
blessings they had enjoyed during the past
year, to pray for their renewal, and to recite
the dreams or "visions of power" seen in
youth through which each Indian felt that
he had received a blessing from "those
above us." Objects used in this ceremony
are the mask and bearskin costume worn
by a man impersonating a woodland spirit
thought to be the guardian of game ani-
mals; the turtleshell rattle used by this
being; the extraordinary drum, with its
sticks; and the large pumpdrill used to
kindle the ceremonial "new fire" symbolic of
a fresh start in all the affairs of life. Other
paraphernalia used in this and in minor
ceremonies are also exhibited, together with
two Shawnee "sacred bundles," one con-
taining charms supposed to bring good
health to its owner, the other to give success
in war.
AND MONOGRAPHS
12
GUIDE
Pipes
106 A
Canoes
Few aboriginal games have been played
in late times by the survivors of this group
of tribes. Some of the latest have been
the moccasin game, in which one side hides
a bullet in or under one of several moccasins,
and their opponents endeavor to guess
where it is; and Shawnee football; but a
number are still remembered, among them
the game of dice shaken in a bowl, a jack-
straw game, and the widespread cup-and-
pin. The Munsee branch of theDelawares
report also a form of lacrosse and the hoop-
and-pole game, but these may have been
borrowed from the neighboring Iroquois.
Of late years the only smoking pipes
made by any of these tribes belong to types
characterized by small bowls of stone or
pottery, used with a separate stem of wood
or cane; but in ancient times there were also
patterns in which bowl and short stem were
made in one piece.
Canoes of birchbark were doubtless used
in the northern part, and of elm-bark
farther south; but the typical boat is the
dug-out wooden canoe, shaped from a
single large log, of which an example, found
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
13
in the river mud near Hackensack, N. J.,
may be seen on the rack at the east end of
the hall. In winter, or for overland trans-
portation in summer, the traveler's belong-
ings were packed in specially made burden-
baskets, carried on the back by means of a
pack-strap or "tump-line" across the fore-
head or the chest. An example of burden
basket was collected from the remnant of
the Mashpee Indians still living in Massa-
chusetts.
Three main types of dwellings were in use
in the Central Atlantic area: one was a
dome-shape wigwam covered with elm-
bark or birchbark, mats, or grass thatch;
the second, a rectangular house with a
gable roof, resembling in form a modern
barn, covered with sheets of bark (usually
elm) sewed fast to a frame of poles; while
the third was also rectangular in ground-
plan, but the roof was of the arched instead
of the gable type. Such houses, especially in
the southern part of the region, were
frequently covered with mats instead of
bark. Models of two of these types are
shown in the Manhattan Indian group.
Burden-
baskets
106 B
107 (top)
Pack -strap
106 B
Houses
134
AND MONOGRAPHS
14
GUIDE
Receptacles
106 A B
Mats
Textiles
105 B
106 B
The conical tent or tipi, popularly supposed
to be the typical "Indian wigwam," does
not seem to have been used in this district.
The tribes of this group usually made
their beds in winter on a carpet of spruce-
boughs or of grass spread upon the ground,
like their brethren farther north; but in the
summer, for greater coolness, the mats,
skins, and other bedding were arranged on
cots or platforms of poles, raised on forked
sticks a foot or two above the ground.
Having homes of a more or less perma-
nent character, it was natural that the
Central Atlantic peoples should have
accumulated a large number of household
effects, and such was indeed the case, as
the collection shows. The cases contain a
considerable variety of such things: wooden
bowls, ladles, and mortars; baskets of
many forms for storage and for other
purposes, vessels made of gourds, and a
number of miscellaneous articles. Mats
of rushes and a considerable variety of tex-
tiles were made in early days, but have now
disappeared; the only examples shown are
two ancient medicine-pouches woven of
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
15
native hemp, and the pack or burden strap
woven of native hemp and the fiber of
slippery-elm bark.
Pottery was extensively manufactured
for cooking purposes before the whites
introduced brass and iron kettles, and com-
plete and typical specimens may be seen in
the New York archeological case on the
second floor. Ancient fragments may also
be seen in the Manhattan case, back of the
model; but the complete vessel shown here,
although found in New York City, is
clearly of Iroquois origin, and is not typical
of this region.
In early times the characteristic costume
of the men seems to have been breechcloth,
leggings, and moccasins of deerskin, with a
robe or mantle in cold weather, the upper
part of the body remaining bare at other
times; while the women wore a short skirt
open at the side, really more like a small
blanket belted around the waist, made of
deerskin or sometimes of fabric woven of
native hemp fiber, together with leggings
and moccasins. The upper part of the
body, as in the case of the men, was usually
Pottery
134
Garments
105 B, 106,
131 (and
drawers)
AND MONOGRAPHS
16
GUIDE
Leggings
Moccasins
106
131 (and
drawers)
Bags
Pouches
105 B, 106
131 (and
drawers)
uncovered in mild weather, but sometimes
a cape-like garment was worn. The women
also wore the robe or mantle when needed,
and in winter both sexes protected their arms
with separate sleeves made like leggings.
The garments exhibited illustrate styles in
vogue fifty to one hundred years ago, yet
most show in some way the effect of con-
tact with whites. The coat is of deerskin
decorated with porcupine-quills in Indian
fashion, but the cut is European. One
pair of leggings is of deerskin, but decorated
with beads obtained from whites; other
leggings are made in Indian style, but of
white men's material; only the Shawnee
deerskin leggings are strictly aboriginal.
The old quilled moccasins of deerskin on
the back of Case 106 A must represent
very closely the ancient style, but even
these have jinglers of a metal not available
to pre-Colonial Indians.
Some of the bags decorated with porcu-
pine-quills might have been made before
contact with whites. These bags, and the
shoulder pouches and other things, quilled
and beaded, illustrate the esthetic sense of
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
17
this group of tribes. Most of the designs
are based on conventional plant forms of
aboriginal origin; but a few show the more
realistic plant patterns developed under
European influence. The art of ribbon
applique decoration, originating after the
coming of the whites, reached its highest
development in this and adjoining regions
to the west. The art of making silver
ornaments, which had its beginning during
the Colonial period, was practised, es-
pecially by the Delawares and the Shawnee;
and wampum — small shell beads, white
and purple — was used ceremonially, for
personal adornment, and as a medium of
exchange. (See page 192.)
IROQUOIAN GROUP
(Cases 107, 108, 130, 134, 135, 139, 141)
The term Iroquoian Group refers to the
Indians who lived or are still living in
northern New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio,
and the Province of Ontario, and who speak
dialects of the Iroquoian stock. The
surviving tribes are the Mohawk, Oneida,
Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca, all mem-
Ribbon
applique
131 B (and
drawers)
Silverwork
106 A
130 BC
131 (draw-
ers)
Wampum
131 C D
AND MONOGRAPHS
18
GUIDE
bers of the original League of the Iroquois,
or Five Nations, together with the Wyandot
and Huron, survivors of a group not
politically connected with the Five Nations,
but similar to them in language, manu-
Iroquoian Group
factures, and customs. To these may be
added the Tuscarora, who joined the
northern Iroquois in the early part of the
eighteenth century, becoming the sixth
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
19
nation; but the Cherokee of North Carolina
are not included, although Iroquoian in
language, for their customs and material
culture are different.
That these tribes, especially the Five
Nations proper, were notably strong and
virile, may be seen not only from their
history (they conquered and controlled all
the continent east of the Mississippi and
north of Tennessee and Virginia), but from
the fact that so many of them are left in
their old domain, and that they retain
their ancient tongue and many of their old
customs. They had a positive genius for
political organization, for their League was
perhaps the first federal union of states
north of Mexico, with a central governing
body as well as local councils, and which
functioned in a highly efficient manner.
Their religious and ceremonial life also had
reached an advanced state of development,
although in this respect and in manufactures
the Iroquoian tribes did not attain the
usual height shown in their politics and
military service.
Culture
AND MONOGRAPHS
20
GUIDE
Hunting
Fishing
107
Snowshoes
107 B
Houses
Like the tribes of the Central Atlantic
area they were dependent on agriculture
fully as much as on game and fish, and
early travelers speak of their cornfields as
being especially large. Hunting and fishing
were carried on as among neighboring
peoples; for the still-hunt a long, flat bow,
rectangular in section, was used; an unusual
bow shows a scalloped or decorated edge.
The arrows also were long, with three
feathers, and in ancient times were headed
with bone, antler, or triangular f int points.
Rude hooks of bone, nets of skin or of fiber
cords, and spears, all served for fishing.
Small game was killed with a blowgun— a
long tube of wood through which a dart,
"feathered" with thistledown, could be
blown with the breath with enough force to
transfix a squirrel or a small bird.
Useful in hunting during the winter was
the snowshoe, rather wide in proportion
to its length, like the types farther east, but
upturned slightly at the toe like many
western models.
The typical dwelling of these northern
Iroquoian tribes consisted of a frame of
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
21
poles covered with sheets of elm-bark
stitched fast with bast; the form was
rectangular, with a gable roof much like a
modern barn — similar to one type built by
the tribes of the Central Atlantic group, but
usually larger and much longer. Often a
number of related families lived in one of
these "long-houses," as they were called,
each household with its own allotted fire-
place, sleeping bunks, and space for storage.
A number of such houses formed a village,
which often was fortified with strong pali-
sades made of tree-trunks. Along the walls
of the bark houses bunks were built, some-
times two tiers of them, on which the
bedding of mats and skins was spread,
while beneath were stored baskets contain-
ing personal belongings. Besides such
storage baskets, and woven bags of fiber
for similar purposes, household effects
consisted of wooden bowls and spoons for
cooking and serving food; large wooden
mortars and pestles for crushing corn;
coarse and fine baskets for sifting the meal,
and other baskets specially made for wash-
ing corn during the hulling process; some
Household
utensils
108
AND MONOGRAPHS
22
GUIDE
Pottery
108 A
134
Baby-carrier
108 A
bowls, spoons, buckets, and barrels of
elm-bark, and a variety of small tools for
various purposes. Foods requiring boiling
were cooked in pottery kettles with rounded
bottoms, more or less globular bodies, and
constricted necks topped with the pro-
jecting rim or cornice so characteristic of
the earthenware receptacles of these tribes.
A small specimen is shown with the collec-
tion, and another, even more typical, in the
Manhattan case (134), which, although
found in New York City, is of Iroquois
manufacture. Such vessels gave place to
the more convenient and durable iron and
copper kettles introduced by the colonists,
hence they have not been made for a long
time.
Another article frequently seen about the
bark houses was the baby-carrier or cradle-
board, which, like that of adjacent Indians,
was provided with a hoOp to protect the
face of the infant tied upon it, but which
had a foot-rest permanently placed at the
lower end of the board instead of being
movable as among most neighboring tribes.
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
23
Like the people of the Northeastern
Woodland and of the Central Atlantic
areas, the Iroquois tribes used the globe-
headed warclub, and in addition had
developed several other forms of clubs,
one of which is exhibited. The metal-
bladed tomahawk, introduced by the
whites, also became a popular weapon.
It will be observed that the Iroquois seem
to have preferred a rather light-bladed
tomahawk.
The Iroquoian tribes, like many others,
believed in a number of spirits, for the
greater part the personified powers of nature,
over which ruled, at least according to
present Indian belief, a great spirit.
Their ceremonies consisted of periodical
festivals at which thanks were given for
past benefits and prayers were offered
for their continuance, and at which certain
rites and dances were performed: these
in many instances were the public per-
formances of certain secret societies. The
most spectacular of these ceremonies were
practised by a fraternity known as the
Falseface Company, wearing grotesque
Clubs
Tomahawks
107 A
1
Masks
107
AND MONOGRAPHS
24
GUIDE
Other
ceremonial
objects
107
Pipes
107
wooden masks, of which a representative
collection is here displayed. These were
intended to imitate the faces of a race of
woodland spirits, or goblins, supposed to
have the power of expelling disease. While
impersonating these spirits the masked
performers did not hesitate to plunge their
hands into the fire, and scatter hot coals
and ashes, while their companions danced
and shook their huge turtleshell rattles.
Rattles, drums, whistles, and various para-
phernalia used in other ceremonies are
shown.
The smoking pipes made recently by the
Iroquois consist of a stone head of moderate
size, sometimes carved in the form of an
animal, and used with a rather small
separate stem of wood. In ancient times
pottery pipes were made, often beautifully
decorated with animal or human forms
modeled in the round, or with incised
designs — a form of pipe having a short
stem all of one piece with the bowl. Similar
one-piece pipes were sometimes also made
of stone.
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
25
Most of the ancient games are still
played by the Iroquois, and the articles
employed are well represented in the collec-
tion. Among them may be enumerated
the old 'game of racket, or lacrosse, from
which the whites derived a popular sport;
the widespread hoop-and-pole game; the
game of snow-snake, in which polished sticks
called "snakes" are slid a surprising dis-
tance along a level, snow-covered track;
two forms of the dice game, one of them
played with a wooden bowl; and at least
one form of the cup-and-pin game, besides
toys, such as dolls and the like.
No Iroquois canoes are in the collec-
tion, but there is no doubt that the dugout
wooden type, as well as canoes of elm-
bark and birchbark, where these materials
could be found, were freely employed.
The last canoes to survive in use were the
dugouts. Where no waterways were avail-
able, burdens were carried on the back in
specially made baskets with the aid of
pack-straps, woven of native hemp or of
other fiber, passed across the forehead or
Games
107
Canoes
Burden-
baskets
Pack-straps
108 B
AND MONOGRAPHS
26
GUIDE
Men's dress
107 B
108, 131
(drawers)
141
the chest. Some of these old straps are
handsomely decorated in dyed moosehair.
For everyday purposes the Iroquoian
tribes now dress as do their white neigh-
bors, but on occasions of ceremony costumes
of the kind worn by the people since
Colonial days may be seen — aboriginal in
style but usually made of cloth obtained
from the whites. The men wear a long
tunic or shirt of cotton fabric, almost
always white, reaching nearly to the knees,
a breechcloth, and long leggings of red or
blue broadcloth or of similar substantial
woolen material, worn with the seam in
front and often handsomely beaded. Soft
moccasins of deerskin, made in one piece
and puckered to a single seam in front, were
worn by both sexes, except among the
Huron, Mohawk, and Oneida, who often
used a moccasin puckered to a tongue or
instep piece. The typical headdress of the
men was a cap covered with short, curling,
cut feathers, with one or more straight
eagle-plumes rising from their midst, and
men wore sashes across their shoulders and
about their waists, woven of red -yarn, with
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
27
beads interwoven to form patterns; while
garters of similar make were tied about the
legs just below the knees. Both sexes
used a robe or a shawl in cold weather.
The women's dress consisted of a red or
blue skirt of broadcloth, nicely decorated,
originally a mere blanket-like piece belted
skirtwise about the waist, and an overdress
of lighter material covering the upper part
of the body and extending halfway down
the skirt, and short leggings of broadcloth,
often beautifully beaded, worn, like the
men's leggings, with the seam in front.
Both men and women wore silver earrings,
rings, and bracelets; while the women's
overdresses were covered with a profusion
of silver brooches. The manufacture of
such ornaments by the Iroquois, beginning
in Colonial days when the Indians obtained
their first silver from the whites, developed
into a real art which has been abandoned
only within recent years. As may be
seen from the specimens exhibited, a con-
siderable degree of taste and skill was
attained. The rather rude tools used were
made from pieces of files and bits of iron.
Women's
dress
108 B
131
(drawers)
Silverwork
108 B
130 BC
AND MONOGRAPHS
28
GUIDE
Quills and
moose-hair
108 B
131
(drawers)
135 D
Of course, before the white man came,
silver ornaments were unknown to the
Indians, and deerskin took the place of
broadcloth as material for clothing, while
ornamentation was mainly in porcupine-
quill or moose-hair embroidery. It was
with such materials that the old Iroquoian
peoples found their highest artistic ex-
pression, and the Museum has been so
fortunate as to obtain several old speci-
mens illustrating native embroidery at
its best. These are two woven burden-
straps and a deerskin pouch with angular
patterns embroidered in colored moose-
hair, a quilled deerskin pouch, and several
other quilled objects exhibited with the
other Iroquois articles, and a still better
pouch shown in the porcupine-quill exhibit
(Case 135 C). The patterns on these
last two pouches are based on conven-
tionalized plant forms, and all seem purely
aboriginal. There are numerous later
examples of moose-hair embroidery on
birchbark boxes, but for the greater
part these are later, and the designs as a
rule show European influence. The earlier
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
29
beadwork of the Iroquois is fine and lace-
like, and shows many curved conventional
patterns resembling those of the earlier
porcupine-quill decoration. The later work,
as exemplified by the blanket displayed,
shows realistic plant patterns and con-
siderable European influence.
CANOES
Prominently displayed at the eastern end
of the hall are several dugout canoes fash-
ioned from single logs of wood, which illus-
trate some of the types usecFby the Indians
in different parts of the United States.
At the top of the rack is the Menomini
type which imitates the birchbark canoe in
form. Below this is a dugout found im-
bedded in the mud of Hackensack river,
New Jersey, and probably was made by
local Indians; it was repaired and painted
by its discoverer and was actually used by
him for some time before it came into the
Museum's possession. Next in order are
an eastern Chippewa type and two forms
characteristic of the western part of the
State of Washington, while the lowermost
Beadwork
108 B
131
(drawers)
135 A
AND MONOGRAPHS
30
GUIDE
canoe is the curious type used by Indians of
northern California. A small and slender
dugout from the Chitimacha of Louisiana
may be seen on the top of Case 109; while
the Florida Seminole form is shown on
Case 112. The dugout on the top of
Case 139 is an unusual type from western
Washington. The form of birchbark canoe
typical of northeastern North America — the
type which has furnished the model for
most canvas and cedar canoes used today —
is illustrated by the Montagnais example
on the top of Case 132, and the handsome
decorated Penobscot specimen over Case 141.
The picturesque form chosen by artists as
exemplifying the birch canoe of the Ameri-
can Indian is the Chippewa model above
Case 143 against the west wall; and a
variety of canoe seldom seen in collections
is the Slave Indian type from the Mackenzie
river, over Case 136. Finally, there is the
circular skin canoe, or "bull-boat," of the
Plains tribes, on the wall in the northwest
corner of the hall. A typical large canoe
of the Northwest coast will be found on the
Second Floor.
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
31
CENTRAL ALGONKIANS
(Cases 109, 110 A, 130, 132)
By the term "Central Algonkians" is
meant the group of tribes speaking dialects
of the Algonkian stock which lived in what
is now Indiana, Illinois, part of Michigan,
and a large section of Wisconsin, at the time
of the first settlement by Caucasians, but
who are now scattered on various reserva-
tions. Among these tribes are the Sauk and
Foxes, Kickapoo, Potawatomi, Menomini,
and Peoria, the material culture of all of
which is represented in the collections.
Although the homes of the Central
Algonkians lay mainly in the borderland
between woodland and prairie, their manner
of living and their manufactures were
typical of the Woodland Indians, in those
respects resembling closely the groups to
the north and east of them, with but little
suggestion of the Plains. Like the Iro-
quoian group and the Central Atlantic
tribes before described, they were depen-
dent largely on agriculture for. their liveli-
hood, yet hunting and fishing played an
Culture
AND MONOGRAPHS
32
Bows
Arrows
130 F
GUIDE
important part, as did also, among the
more northerly tribes of the area; the
gathering of wild rice and maple-sugar.
The favorite hunting weapons were the
Central Algonkians
bow and arrow, although it is said that in
early times short-shafted spears were used
in hunting bears, as well as in war. The
bow was typical of the Eastern Woodlands,
being four to five feet long, with a flat
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
33
rectangular section; while the arrows were
long, with three feathers, and with the
nock hollowed slightly for the fingers.
Arrowpoints were originally made of stone,
antler, and bone, but these have long given
place to iron. The Museum has been
fortunate, however, in obtaining several
antler-pointed arrows from this district,
which are exhibited with the metal-pointed
ones and with the blunt-pointed shafts
still used for killing small game. The
deer-pound was used, as farther east and
north, wherever conditions favored this
method of obtaining venison; the deer-
snare was often stretched across the runways
of these animals; deer were chased with
dogs past hunters lying in ambush; were
still-hunted, and shot at night from canoes
bearing flaming torches, or "jack-lights,"
while does were lured to their destruction
by the hunter imitating the cry of a fawn
with a "deer-call" made for the purpose.
For fishing, the harpoon-like single spear,
the three-pronged spear, the net in different
forms, and the line with hook of bone or
copper, were all employed.
Other
means of
hunting
Fishing
AND MONOGRAPHS
34
GUIDE
Food
109 BC
136
Weapons
130 F
The agricultural methods were like those
of most Eastern Indians. Often a plot in
the woods had been selected, owing to
richer soil, the larger trees were girdled
so that they died and their foliage no longer
shaded the ground, and the smaller trees
and brush cut down and burned. The
ground was then stirred with digging-sticks
or with stone- or bone-bladed hoes, and the
corn, beans, and squashes planted without
further preparation except that sometimes
hills or ridges were formed for the reception
of the seeds. After the harvest the ears of
corn were braided together by their husks
and hung to dry, while squashes were cut
into thin strips and dried for winter use.
For crushing the corn into meal, a wooden
mortar and pestle were employed, and for
removing the hulls after boiling it with lye,
the corn was washed in rough-surfaced
bags or baskets made for the purpose.
For cooking and serving food the usual
bowls, ladles, and stirring-sticks were
employed.
As among most of the Eastern groups
already described, the globe-headed warclub
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
35
was the favorite weapon for hand-to-hand
conflict in early days, but this implement
was superseded by the metal-bladed toma-
hawk after the coming of the whites.
Both types of these weapons are exhibited.
The Central Algonkians, like many
other Indians, believed in a multiplicity of
spirits, whose abiding places were in some
cases above, in others below, the earth, and
whose chief was a great spirit, who in some
cases, at least, was thought to be the sun.
According to tradition, these spirits granted
visions to the Indians, in which they were
instructed how to prepare the sacred
bundles (of which several are exhibited),
containing charms, medicines, and cere-
monial regalia, supposed to have the power
of bringing good health and success in all
the affairs of life. The ceremonies asso-
ciated with these bundles, whose rituals were
supposed to come directly from the spiritual
powers, formed an important part of the
religious observances of these tribes; but
most of them also had a secret society
called Mitawin (the Menomini form),
whose sacred rites in some respects bore a
Sacred
bundles
130 D
132
AND MONOGRAPHS
36
GUIDE
Medicine -
bags
109 C
130 D
Bowls
Ladles
130 DE
Other
sacred
objects
130 D
Pipes
130 F
Games
130 E
(and draw-
er)
startling resemblance to those of the Free
and Accepted Masons. Each member of
this society was supposed to possess a
"medicine-bag" made of the entire skin of
some animal, usually an otter, and these
bags were often handsomely decorated with
quill- and bead-work on tail and feet.
Among the other objects employed by the
organization in its ceremonies were a large
wooden bowl and ladle, each carved with an
effigy of Wisa'ka, fabled among the Sauk
and Foxes as the founder of the lodge. A
number of charms, fetishes, and small sacred
bundles are also displayed.
The smoking pipes used by the tribes of
this group bear close resemblance to those
of the Plains, consisting of a massive T-shape
or L-shape bowl of red or black stone, with
a long, usually flat, wooden stem, often
highly embellished with carving, quillwork,
and beadwork. Among the several speci-
mens exhibited is a fine old example with
its stone bowl skilfully carved into the
effigy of a man.
Among games, lacrosse, played with a
racket much smaller than the Iroquois
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
37
style, was a favorite among these people,
but it was usually regarded as a religious
rite pleasing to the thunder spirits, as well
as a sport. The bowl-and-dice game was
also popular, and the widespread game of
cup-and-pin and the rarer "draw-stick"
or jackstraws wsre known. Moreover, the
women had a pastime in which was used a
double ball, or rather two balls connected
with a short string, propelled with a straight
stick. Specially prepared sticks suggesting
the Iroquois "snow-snakes" were thrown
or slid for considerable distances over the
snow. Besides these, foot-races, archery,
and other contests were greatly enjoyed.
In the northern part of the district, for
instance, among the Menomini, the birch-
bark canoe, suggesting the type used by the
Northern Algonkians, but with higher
ends, was the general vehicle of transporta-
tion; but the dugout canoe, sometimes
fashioned to resemble that of birchbark in
form, was common to all the tribes of this
group. A specimen may be seen on the
uppermost rack of canoes at the east end of
the hall. A new factor in transportation,
Canoes
AND MONOGRAPHS
38
GUIDE
Saddle
109 C
Houses
of course, appeared with the introduction of
horses, whose saddles and other trappings
were usually similar to the types used
by the tribes of the Plains. Snowshoes of
several types appear in the northern parts
of the region.
Most Central Algonkian Indians used two
main types of houses — a square or oblong
bark-covered lodge with gable roof for use
in summer, and a dome-shape wigwam
usually covered with mats, but sometimes
with bark, for winter use. As in the Iro-
quois bark-houses, the summer habitations
of this region were provided with raised
bunks or benches along the sides, upon
which the bedding of mats and skins was
spread, and which served not only as beds
but also as seats and tables. It is said
that the dome-shape winter wigwams
sometimes had. similar bunks, but as a
rule the people preferred to lay on the
ground a thick mattress of evergreen
boughs, or even of dry grass, and to sleep
on that in the winter for greater warmth.
The lodge in which the ceremonies of the
Mila'win were performed was a long one,
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
39
with arched roof, and was covered with
mats for every ceremony, which were re-
moved afterward; but the frame was left
standing from one assembly to another.
It is said that among some of the tribes,
such as the Menomini, permanent "long-
houses" were sometimes built to accommo-
date several families, as in the case of the
Iroquois communal dwellings.
Prominent among the furnishings of
these houses were the baskets of splints, the
boxes made of bark, and the countless
bags of various sizes woven from basswood
and other fibers, sometimes combined with
buffalo-hair yarn, all used for storage.
These were kept in the mat wigwams on the
side opposite the door, and in the summer
bark-lodges beneath the beds or hung from
the roof-poles. Most of the tribes had
also rectangular trunk-like boxes made of
buffalo rawhide and covered with painted
angular designs, suggesting those of the
Plains Indians, in which they put away
their clothing. Always was seen the wooden
corn mortar with its heavy pestle, before
mentioned, and a collection of wooden
Baskets
Boxes
Bags
109 B
130
(drawers)
Domestic
objects
109 B
130 DE
AND MONOGRAPHS
40
GUIDE
Needles
130 E
Mats
110 A
130 BE
(drawers)
Cradle-
board
109 C
bowls and spoons of varying sizes used in
preparing and serving food. For many
years it has been the custom to cook liquid
foods in brass or copper kettles obtained
from the whites, but originally earthen-
ware pots were employed, which, among the
Menomini at least, exemplified the egg-
shape, pointed-bottom type characteristic
of the Algonkian tribes of the Central
Atlantic area. Prominent among the mis-
cellaneous tools are the long, flat, curved
needles of bone used for sewing together
rushes in making the waterproof mats with
which the winter wigwams were covered.
The tribes of this group also made excellent
rush mats, many of them woven in decora-
tive patterns, for floor or wall coverings, or
to cover the benches used at night as beds.
The cradle used in this region was practi-
cally the same as that among the Eastern
Sub-arctic and the Northeastern Wood-
land tribes — a rectangular board with a
hoop attached to prevent injury to the
child's face in case of a fall, and provided
with a U-shape strip of wood to serve as
sides and foot-rest, which was made movable
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
41
so that it could be lowered as the baby
grew. This was an improvement over
the type seen among the Iroquois and the
Central Atlantic tribes, in which the foot-
board was fixed, and no sides were provided.
From Colonial days until comparatively
recent years, when these Indians abandoned
the everyday use of their distinctive dress,
the men wore a shirt of cotton fabric; a
breechclout of blue broadcloth or strouding,
often beaded; with leggings either of deer-
skin and fringed, or made of blue broad-
cloth and decorated with ribbon work
applique. The typical headdress was a
broad band of otter-skin with beaded
medallions, but a roach or crest made of
deer-hair and* turkey-beards was also
popular, especially among the warriors who
shaved their heads, -leaving only a bristly
crest of hair and a slender braid or scalp-
lock at the back. Handsomely beaded
pouches with ornamented straps were
slung across the shoulders; waists were
encircled with gorgeous belts of woven
beadwork, and garters of similar make were
worn just below the knee. To this was
Men's
dress
109 AC
130 (and
drawers)
AND MONOGRAPHS
42
GUIDE
Women's
dress
109 A B
130 (and
drawers)
sometimes added a deerskin coat cut
white-man's style, and there have been
found a few deerskin shirts that may be
attributed to this group. Blankets or
robes were worn over all in cold weather.
The women wore a waist of figured cotton
material ornamented with brooches, a
decorated rectangular piece of red or blue
broadcloth belted about the waist for a
skirt, and short leggings of red and blue
broadcloth, often beautifully worked with
ribbon applique or with beads, as was their
broadcloth robe. Their only headdress
was a beaded square of cloth wrapped
about the hair, which was done up in a roll
or club and allowed to hang down the back.
This hair-wrapping was held in place with a
woven beadwork band, to which were
attached long bead streamers that reached
nearly to the ground.
In ancient times the men's costume
probably consisted of breech cloth, long
leggings, and moccasins of deerskin, worn
with a robe in cold weather, while that of
the women was a blanket-like rectangle of
skin or of woven fabric belted about the
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
43
waist as a skirt, with the overlap or opening
at the side, and short leggings and mocca-
sins of deerskin. It is probable that the
women wore some kind of cape or poncho
on the upper part of the body in cold weather,
under the robe or blanket.
Both men and women wore the one-piece
soft deerskin moccasin, puckered to a single
seam in front, except those of the more
northerly bands, who used the Northern
soft moccasin puckered to a tongue or
instep piece in front.
Earrings, rings, bracelets, brooches, and
other ornaments of native make were worn
by all, but the material was usually sheet
german-silver bought from traders, and not
coin silver such as was used by the Iroquois
and the Southern tribes.
In weaving, quillwork, and later in
beadwork and ribbon applique, the Central
Algonkian tribes found their greatest
opportunity for esthetic expression. In
weaving, a great variety of patterns is seen,
mostly geometric, but sometimes based on
human or animal forms. In all their
weaving, however, including woven bead-
Moccasins
109 A
130
(drawers)
141
Personal
ornaments
130 B
(and draw-
ers)
Weaving
Ornament
109
130
(and draw-
ers)
AND MONOGRAPHS
44
GUIDE
Woven
bags
109 B
130 D
(and draw-
ers)
work, the patterns are mainly angular, for
the techniques employed lend themselves
best to straight lines; but the case is different
with quillwork and beadwork especially,
in which is often seen a profusion of con-
ventional plant forms with flowing lines.
In rare cases only are there found traces of
European influence.
The textiles of these people which survive
in greatest number are their woven bags,
which present a considerable variety of
weaves and patterns, and merit careful
study. Most of them show a warp made
of fiber cords, and the weft of some old
specimens is buffalo-hair yarn, supplanted
in later bags by ravelings from blankets or
from cloth bought from traders, or by
commercial yarns.
All these arts were the property of the
women. The men exhibited their artistic
ability in woodcarving, especially in the
manufacture of bowls and spoons, which
often are graceful in form and are orna-
mented with neat effigies of the human
head, or with carefully executed forms of
animals.
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
45
SOUTHERN SIOUAN GROUP
(Cases 110, 111, 130, 132, 133, 137 D)
Under the name " Southern Siouan
Group" are included a number of tribes
once living in the Mississippi valley, most
of them west of the river, from Wiscon-
sin to Arkansas, which speak languages
related to that of the Dakota, or Sioux,
but whose customs and manufactures re-
sembled those of the Central Algonkian
group. The resemblance is strongest among
the Winnebago of Wisconsin, and the
Iowa and Oto formerly living in Iowa,
Nebraska, and Missouri; it is less among
the Omaha and Ponca, Osage, Kansa, and
Quapaw, who lived respectively in Ne-
braska, Missouri, Kansas, and Arkansas,
and who resemble the nomadic Indians
of the Plains to a certain extent. The
Eastern Sioux (usually appearing under
the names of Santee, Sisseton, and Wah-
peton) for convenience have been included
in this group, although their arts are per-
haps more like those of the Northern
Algonkians, such as the Chippewa.
AND MONOGRAPHS
46
GUIDE
Culture
For their food supply these peoples were
all partially dependent on agriculture
as well as on the hunt, but the home of
most of them on the plains in a buffalo
country gave the bison a somewhat more
Southern Siouan Group
prominent place in their food supply.
The methods employed in agriculture and
in the hunting of deer and smaller game
were similar to those of the Central Al-
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
47
gonkians; while the buffalo were hunted
on horseback: that is, in later days, after
horses were acquired. Before . this the
buffalo pound was probably used by such
of the people as had access to the buffalo
country; but it is thought that some of
the bands, the Iowa and Oto in particular,
did not leave the wooded country about
the Great Lakes to venture out upon the
plains until the possession of horses made
transportation easy and success in buffalo
hunting a practical certainty.
The bows and arrows of the Winnebago
are like those of the Central Algonkians;
the bows of the Iowa and Oto similar,
but shorter and narrower; while the Osage
bow is the medium-length, rather narrow
type of the Southern Plains, and their
arrow is short, with the prongs of the nock
expanded in "swallow-tail" form, and with
three long feathers — a typical Plains style.
The bow and arrow formed the favorite
weapon for hunting and for war, but the
lance was also employed, especially after
horses had been obtained. In this group
the warclub took several forms — an es-
Bows
Arrows
Warclubs
111C
132
AND MONOGRAPHS
48
GUIDE
Tomahawks
111 C
132
Shields
111C
Sacred
bundles
132
pecially fine globe-headed club from the
Oto, with an otter carved upon the handle,
and several examples of the flat, bent type
resembling a gun-stock in form, being shown
in the collection. Another form, suggest-
ing Plains styles, is the rawhide-covered
ball of stone loosely slung at the end of a
wooden handle. Besides the usual type
of tomahawks are shown a very archaic
form attached to one of the war-bundles,
consisting of a long, slender, celt-like blade
of iron set in a wooden handle, upon which
is seen the effigy of an otter carved in the
round. The circular shield of buffalo-
hide, typical of the Plains, appears among
the Osage and Kansa.
All the Southern Siouan tribes seem to
have believed in an all-pervading great
mystery, or great spirit, known as Wa-
kdnda, who was chief of all the deified
powers of nature and of the other gods or
spirits; but, as with the Central Algon-
kians, most of their actual religious cere-
monies centered about the sacred bundles
containing objects of a symbolic character
connected with the visions obtained by
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
49
fasting and prayer, regarded by the Indians
as direct revelations from the unknown.
A number of such bundles are exhibited.
In the collection from this group may
be seen a pair of calumets, or symbolic
pipe-stems, one representing the male, the
other the female principle, which figured
in an ancient ceremony remarkable for
its complex symbolism. This rite attracted
the attention of the earliest white explorers
of the region, who were particularly im-
pressed by the fact that it appeared always
to accompany the making of peace and
the expression of friendship, and that for
a traveler to carry a calumet practically
insured him against molestation by the
tribes he might meet in his travels. Today
the ceremony is enacted among the various
tribes as a supplication for rain, to solem-
nize the adoption of a child, and on other
special occasions when the favor of the
gods is sought.
When we consider the strong similarity,
except in language, between the Winne-
bago, Iowa, and Oto, on the one hand,
and the Central Algonkians on the other,
Calumets
111B
AND MONOGRAPHS
50
GUIDE
Medicine-
bags, etc.
133 A B
Fetishes
Charms
133 A B
137 D
Ceremonial
knives
133 B
it does not seem strange that these Southern
Siouan people should have adopted the
typical Algonkian medicine-lodge, or Mi-
id' win, medicine-bags of otter-skin, effigy
wooden bowls, and all; but it is remarkable
that while externally the rites are decidedly
similar, the esoteric part (for instance, the
tradition of the origin of the lodge) is
quite different.
The use of fetishes and charms, suggest-
ing somewhat those of the Central Al-
gonkians, is illustrated by a little wooden
figure representing a mythic dwarf known
as the "Tree Dweller," supposed to give
good luck in hunting; and a flint knife
with a beaver-tooth and a bit of deer-
antler attached, worn suspended from the
neck by the Osage as a war-charm. This
is probably a survival from the time
when stone knives for actual use were
carried in a sheath on the breast, together
perhaps with a wood-cutting tool made
from a beaver-tooth, and a piece of antler
for rechipping the edge of the knife to
sharpen it. Another interesting survival
is the bone knife used until recently to
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
51
pierce the ears of boys at a ceremony held
for the purpose.
The typical pipe for everyday use, and
which is also employed in some ceremonies,
has a rather small L-shape or T-shape
bowl of red or black stone, with a stem
not more than 12 or 14 in. long; and the
pipe-bag is smaller and less ornate than
the Plains form. Large pipes with long
stems and massive bowls of the familiar
Plains type are also seen; and in the clan
ceremonies of the Iowa and Oto, fine old
pipe-bowls provided with very long slender
cylindrical stems appear. An interesting
combination of pipe and flat wooden war-
club is also seen in the collection.
In the list of games played by the South-
ern Siouan tribes the most widely diffused
is bowl-and-dice, which is common to all
of them. Racket or lacrosse appears
among the Winnebago, Iowa, and Oto;
shinny, the moccasin game, snow-snake,
and hoop-and-pole among several of the
tribes, and a form of football among the
Quapaw.
Pipes
Pipe-bags
hob
in c
130 (draw-
ers)
133 A (and
drawers)
Games
AND MONOGRAPHS
52
GUIDE
Horse-
trappings
111 A
133 (draw-
ers)
Bull-boat
Snowshoes
Houses
For generations the people have depended
on the horse for transportation, and have
used saddles and trappings similar to those
of the Central Algonkians. A circular
coracle, or " bull-boat," made of buffalo-
hides stretched on a frame of poles for
temporary use, served in time of emer-
gency for crossing rivers. A boat of this
type hangs in the northwest corner of the
hall. Probably regular dugout wooden
canoes like those of the Central Algonkians
were constructed where the materials were
available and conditions made such craft
of service. Snowshoes were used among
the more northerly bands, such as the
Winnebago and the Santee Sioux.
As might be expected in a group of peoples
living between Woodland and Prairie
tribes, houses characteristic of both appear.
We find the bark- and mat-wigwams of
the Woodland with arched or gable roofs,
the conical tents, or tipis, of the Prairie
Nomads, and even the earth-lodges of the
Village Tribes of the Plains. Not all of
these would be found in a single tribe,
but it frequently happened that several
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
53
such house patterns did so appear. Some-
times the beds in these dwellings took
the form of raised benches, sometimes
not; the bedding combined both mats
and buffalo-skins tanned with the hair
on. Baskets seldom figured among the
household effects of these tribes, with the
exception of the Quapaw, who were familiar
with the art, making baskets of distinctly
Southern type, for storage, sifting meal,
and for other purposes.
Rectangular trunks of rawhide like
those of the Central Algonkians, and flat
rawhide cases {parfleches) like those of the
Plains tribes, both painted with angular
patterns, took the place of baskets for
storage, and woven bags of fiber and buf-
falo-hair (later of yarn) contained many
of the family effects. For grinding corn a
short cylindrical wooden mortar, its base
terminating in a point that could be thrust
into the ground, was used among most
of the bands, instead of the bulkier mortars
seen before, and carefully worked hammer-
and anvil-stones were treasured for crush-
ing dried meat and other foods. Some of
Beds
Baskets
111 A
Trunks
Bags
111 A
130 (draw-
ers)
133 (draw-
ers)
Mortar
Stone tools
111 A
AND MONOGRAPHS
54
GUIDE
Cradle
111 A
Dress
111 B C
130 (draw-
ers)
133 (draw-
ers)
Moccasins
111 C
130 (draw-
ers)
133 (draw-
ers)
141
the tribes used a cradle identical with the
Central Algonkian model, but the type
characteristic of the Southern Siouans is
much longer in proportion to its width,
owing to an extension of the board above
the bow, this extension generally being
handsomely carved and painted. No foot-
rest or sides were provided.
The costumes worn by all these tribes,
with slight differences in detail, are similar
to those described for the Central Algon-
kians, a statement applicable to the cloth-
ing of both men and women. The widest
variation appears in moccasins, which for
the greater part belong to the hard-sole
type, like those of the true Plains tribes,
but which are often provided with flaps
reminiscent of the soft one-piece mocca-
sins of the Eastern Woodland Indians,
and like them are decorated with conven-
tional floral designs. The Winnebago and
the Omaha have, moreover, a one-piece
soft moccasin for women, unlike other
types in that it has a large flap in front;
and Osage and Quapaw women used a
soft moccasin unique in that the seam ex-
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
55
tends down the middle of the sole. The
influence of the Plains in costume is seen
in the use of the picturesque "war-bonnet"
of eagle-feathers, and in the " war-shirt"
made in imitation of the Plains scalp-shirt,
but of cloth instead of deerskin.
The esthetic instinct of these tribes is
shown chiefly in their weaving of bags,
bands, and sashes of buffalo-hair and other
material, and in their beadwork, which,
in its conventional plant designs, resembles
closely that of the Central Algonkians.
Their angular patterns in woven beadwork
are similar also; and it is only when we
reach the Winnebago that we find much
European influence displayed. The South-
ern Siouan tribes as a whole were not so
productive of beadwork as the Central
Algonkians; but to this statement the
Winnebago furnish a notable exception.
The wood-carving done by the men of this
group does not, as a rule, equal in finish
the work of the Central Algonkians; but
some specimens, such as the Oto warclub
before mentioned, are excellent.
War-
bonnet
War-shirt
111 C
Weaving
Beadwork
HOB
111 BC
130 (draw-
ers)
133 (draw-
ers)
Wood-
carving
111 A, C
133 A
AND MONOGRAPHS
56
GUIDE
Culture '
■
NORTHERN ALGONKIANS
(Cases 112, 113 A, 136, 143 top)
Occupying the northern parts of what
are now Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minne-
sota, and the territory northward from the
Great Lakes to Hudson bay, thence west-
ward to the prairie region of Canada, lived
and still live the Chippewa, or Ojibwa, the
Cree, and the Ottawa, principal tribes of
the group designated Northern Algonkians
on account of their geographical situation
and the fact that all spoke dialects of the
great Algonkian stock.
The southernmost bands were partially
agricultural, like the Central Algonkians,
but most of them were dependent entirely
on hunting, fishing, and gathering wild
vegetal products, like the Western and
Eastern Sub-Arctic Indians, from whom the
more northerly Cree differed but little.
Except among the southern Chippewa and
Ottawa bands, which naturally resemble
more or less their congeners and neighbors
to the south, is found an almost sub-Arctic
simplicity of tribal organization, religious
i
[
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
57
ritual, manufactures, and of life in general,
which becomes more marked as we proceed
northward into Cree territory. Perhaps
this was due to the rigor of. the climate,
Northern Algonkians
which allowed little time or surplus energy
for the development of anything beyond
the quest of the day's food supply, and little
opportunity for large tribal gatherings.
AND MONOGRAPHS
58
GUIDE
Wild rice
136
Maple-
sugar
112 BC
136
Wherever practised, agriculture was con-
ducted in the same manner as among the
Central Algonkians. The gathering of wild
rice was of prime importance to all bands
living near the shallow bays and lakes where
it grew. When the rice was ripe, canoes
were poled through the beds in such a way
as to cover them all, the stems being drawn
over the side of the canoe and the grain
beaten off into its bottom; then the rice
was taken ashore and dried either in the
sun or on racks over a fire, threshed by
treading with the feet or beating with a
stick, winnowed with the aid of birchbark
trays, and finally stored in bags of skin or
of woven fiber, or in bark boxes. Some
tribes re-seeded and weeded the rice-beds,
which raised the industry to the level of
agriculture; but others were content to
depend on the grain accidentally lost over-
board in gathering, to plant the beds for
the following year. The making of maple-
sugar was an important industry here also;
there are exhibited a skimmer for remov-
ing scum from the boiling sap, some molds
in which the sugar was cast, as well as
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
59
some sugar forms, and a birchbark box used
for storing it.
Hunting was conducted in much the
same manner as that described for the
adjacent regions, the chief weapon being
the long bow of rectangular section, used
with a long arrow, the head of which, in
early times, was made of stone, native
copper, antler, or bone, and latterly of
metal when the knobbed head for stunning
birds and small mammals is not employed.
The two bows exhibited (the smaller a toy)
exemplify the embellished or notched-edge
type, which is not the kind commonly
used, however.
Of implements of war there are first the
globeheaded wooden club characteristic
of so many eastern and central Woodland
peoples, the flat bent club or "gun-stock"
pattern, and a curved form suggesting in
outline an Oriental simitar or sword.
This last type is an archaic one, and is
mentioned in the accounts of several early
explorers. Most of the Woodland tribes,
when first met by whites, carried their
knives in a sheath hanging at the breast,
Hunting
mplements
112 C
Weapons
112 AB
AND MONOGRAPHS
60
GUIDE
Medicine-
bags
112 C
Rattle
Drum
112 C
suspended from the neck, and not attached
to the belt. Such sheaths have long passed
out of use, but the Museum possesses several
from this region, some quilled, some beaded.
In religion the Northern Algonkians
resembled their relations to the south,
believing in a multiplicity of powerful
spirits, some of them personified powers
of nature, over whom a great spirit, some-
times identified as the sun, ruled as chief.
The cults of the sacred bundles are not so
well developed in this group as among the
Central Algonkians, but the Medicine
Society was so powerful as to lead in re-
ligious affairs, especially among the Chippe-
wa, although it disappears farther north,
where individual medicine-men, or shamans,
alone were found. The collection shows
several characteristic skin bags used by
the Medicine Society, including a rare one
made of the skin and shell of a snapping-
turtle, together with a rattle and a tall
wooden drum for use in ceremonies. This
last is called a "water drum," because
before using an inch or two of water is
poured into it, which is said to improve the
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
61
tone. The songs of the rituals were pre-
served by mnemonic picture-writings, usu-
ally on birchbark, the characters of which
represented topics of the song, arranged
in their proper order. A bark song-record
of this kind is exhibited, likewise a song
recorded on the wooden cover of a box
used to contain eagle-feathers.
Several types of smoking pipes from this
region are known, the Cree often using the
form characterized by a graceful bowl
surmounting a sort of keel, carved from a
single piece of stone and used with a short
stem of wood, which is characteristic of
the Eastern Sub-Arctic and Northeastern
Woodland areas; while the Chippewa and
Ottawa ordinarily smoked a very plain small
stone pipe with a short wooden stem, but
for special occasions brought out pipes
like those of the Plains, with massive red
or black stone bowls, and long wooden
stems often beautifully carved; in fact,
the Chippewa seem to have developed the
carving of pipe-stems to a degree of perfec-
tion seldom seen among other tribes.
Song-
records
112 C
Pipes
112 C
AND MONOGRAPHS
62
GUIDE
Games
112 C
Canoes
112 B
143 (top)
Among games are shown some bone dice,
which when used are tossed in a wooden
bowl, with a bunch of sticks used as coun-
ters, and a form of the cup-and-pin game
consisting of a string of. fish ' vertebrae to
be thrown up and caught upon the point
of a pin attached to one end of the string.
A number of other games were played by
the tribes of this group, however, especially
by the more southerly ones, including la-
crosse, shinny, snow-snake, hoop-and-pole,
the woman's game of double-ball, and the
widespread game in which one player
hides a missile in or under one of several
moccasins, and his opponent guesses its
location.
The Northern Algonkians used the birch-
bark canoe perhaps more than any other
group of Indians, for the myriad lakes and
streams found throughout their country
made such craft a prime necessity. A
typical canoe from this region may be seen
above Case 143 in the stairway hall, which
may be taken as representative, although
there are some variations, especially in
the form of the ends. A native model,
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
63
elaborately ornamented with quillwork,
is likewise shown. Dugout canoes, of which
an example from the Chippewa is seen on
the rack of canoes at the eastern end of
the hall, were made where birchbark was
not available. In winter, when canoes
could not be used for transportation, the
toboggan and the snowshoe took their
place; the typical snowshoe of this region
is rather slender in form, with a squarish
toe, and is but slightly turned up at the for-
ward end.
Like the Central Algonkians, the southern
bands of this district built the rectangular
wigwam of bark, with gable roof, the dome-
shape wigwam likewise covered with bark,
and the dome-shape portable wigwam or
tent covered with mats; while farther north
the conical tipi with birchbark or skin cover,
according to locality and season, was the
principal type of dwelling. In some locali-
ties raised beds were used, especially in
warm weather.
Among household furnishings are found
an abundance of mats, made not only of
rushes but of strips of cedar-bark, used to
Snowshoes
112 A
Houses
Mats
113 A
AND MONOGRAPHS
64
GUIDE
Boxes
Bags
112 B C
133 (draw-
ers)
Bowls
Ladles
112 BC
Cradle-
boards
cover floors and beds. Few if any splint
baskets appear, numerous boxes of birch-
bark taking their place for storage pur-
poses, as did bags of skin and woven sacks
of varying sizes. Where corn was raised,
the cylindrical wooden mortar was em-
ployed for crushing it; and for preparing
and serving food, bowls of wood and
bark were made, together with a variety
of wooden spoons and ladles. Until quite
recently, at least one band of Chippewa
still made pottery cooking-vessels, as
doubtless once did the tribe as a whole,
but for generations the majority have cooked
in kettles of iron or brass obtained from the
whites.
The cradle-board found in this district
was practically the same as that used by
the Central Algonkians — a plain board with
a yoke or strip of wood so arranged as to
protect the infant's face, and another U-
shape strip placed to serve as sides and foot-
board, attached in such manner that it
could be lowered as the child grew. Among
the Chippewa the yoke was often bent into
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
65
fancy form, but this seems characteristic
of the tribe, rather than of the region.
As to costume, the men wore in old times
a rather short shirt or vest, a breechcloth,
long fringed leggings, and soft moccasins
puckered to a tongue or instep piece in
front, all of deerskin, with a head-band or
a hood also of skin, to which a few feathers
might be attached. The women's costume
consisted of a sleeveless gown extending
from the armpits to the knees, held in place
by cords across the shoulders and a belt
at the waist, while the shoulders were
protected by a cape or fiap, and the arms
by separate sleeves in cold weather. Women
also wore short leggings; sometimes, at
least, a rectangular piece belted skirtwise
about the waist, beneath the gown,
which in this case served as an overdress,
as well as moccasins similar to those of the
men. All these garments were of deer
or other skin. Both sexes wore fur robes
in cold weather. The costume described
was the ancient one, and parts following
the original patterns are still used, although
Dress
112 AC
133 (draw-
ers)
'AND MONOGRAPHS
66
GUIDE
Pouches
112 C
113 A
133 (draw-
ers)
Decorative
designs
frequently made of cloth bought from the
whites.
The development of one piece of equip-
ment, the shoulder-pouch, is well illustrated
by specimens in the collection from this
region. There are several old ones made of
skin and decorated with porcupine- and
bird-quills, dating from before 1820, some
of which show no trace of European influ-
ence, while others have, as part of their
decoration, beads obtained from the Hud-
son's Bay Company. Then there are
pouches of similar size and form, but made
of cloth and decorated with beads in pat-
terns showing European influence, belong-
ing to a later period; and finally the large
shoulder-pouches covered with solid bead-
work in intricate floral designs of realistic
character (the European element in which
is obvious), made by the Chippewa within
recent years.
It is in such work that the esthetic sense
of the Northern Algonkians now finds its
fullest expression; and these realistic de-
signs have spread from them and from tribe
to tribe until they are found among all or
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
67
nearly all the Athapascan peoples of the
Western Sub-Arctic area, and have even
reached the Pacific coast, among, for ex-
ample, the Tlingit. To the south the
designs have extended to the Potawatomi
and especially to the Winnebago. Old
Indian patterns are now seen, among the
Northern Algonkians, only in woven bead
articles, in woven bags and mats, and in
antique examples of sewn beadwork and
quillwork. The quillwork of today, done
mostly as decoration for birchbark boxes,
shows, like the present sewn beadwork,
strong European influence.
It is true, however, that the use of curved
lines and conventional floral figures appears
to be ancient among the Woodland tribes;
and such patterns were probably the fore-
runner of the present designs which have
become more realistic and luxuriant under
the influence of the whites, to whom is
due the introduction of the double rose,
the flowerpot, and other elements unknown
to the pre-Colonial Indian.
Quillwork
112BC
133 (draw-
ers)
AND MONOGRAPHS
68
GUIDE
SOUTHEASTERN WOODLAND
AREA
(Cases 113 B, 114, 130, 133 A drawers,
136, 139, HOB)
In the Southeastern Woodland area,
from the Virginias and Tennessee southward
to the Gulf of Mexico and westward to the
Mississippi, and extending somewhat be-
yond that stream at the southwest corner,
lived a group of tribes representing a num-
ber of linguistic stocks and in various stages
of advancement, but still so much alike
in their arts and mode of life that they may
be considered together. The most typical
stock of the group is the Muskhogean,
represented in our collection by the Choc-
taw, the Creeks proper, the Alibamu and
Koasati (both tribes of the old Creek
confederacy), the Houma, the Seminole,
and the Chickasaw; while similar in many
respects were the Cherokee, who represent
a southern extension of the Iroquoian stock,
and the Yuchi and Chitimacha, each be-
lieved to be the sole surviving representa-
tives of a linguistic family. There were
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
69
also several Siouan tribes in the region,
represented in the collection by the Ca-
tawba, the others having so nearly dis-
appeared that no specimens have been
obtainable from them.
Southeastern Woodland Area
Archeological and historical evidence
teaches us that some of the tribes had at-
tained a high degree of primitive culture,
yet our ethnological exhibit would not con-
Culture
AND MONOGRAPHS
70
GUIDE
Corn-
baskets
Mortar
114
136
vey that impression. This is due to the
fact that most of the survivors have long
abandoned their Indian ways, and that
the Eastern Seminole, the one tribe of the
group whose mode of life still approximates
that of their ancestors, have lost all but
the simplest features of their ancient cul-
ture, owing to their long conflict with white
invaders, and the uncertain, hunted life
they were afterward obliged to lead in the
everglades of Florida. Among other tribes
only certain aboriginal products, such as
basketry, have survived, but occasional
specimens of other things, preserved as
heirlooms or relics of the past, may be
found.
Agriculture was the principal means of
support of most of these tribes, but hunt-
ing, and in favorable localities fishing, also
contributed largely to the food supply.
None of the aboriginal farming implements
have been used within recent years, but the
hopper-shaped basket, carried on the back
while harvesting corn as a container for
the newly-gathered ears, is still used. Corn
was ground in a wooden mortar differing
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
71
in the form of the grinding cavity from that
in use in other districts. For winnowing
the crushed grain most tribes of this dis-
trict employed a square, flat basket, but
the Choctaw used a basket resembling in
form the blade of a scoop-shovel and sug-
gesting a type brought to America by
European colonists. Both forms are ex-
hibited, together with sieve baskets for
sifting the meal.
The typical bow of the district was the
long, flat type with rectangular section
found throughout most of the continent
east "of the Mississippi; it was, if anything,
even longer than the types hitherto noted,
and the arrows were correspondingly long.
A notable and distinctive feature of the
arrows is that two feathers, set with a
slight twist, were the rule here, instead of
the three commonly seen in most regions.
Many arrows, both of wood and of cane,
show the tips simply pointed and hardened
by the action of fire, an ancient method that
has survived until the present day; but
the points of stone, bone, and antler, widely
used in ancient times, have long since passed
Bows
Arrows
114 A
AND MONOGRAPHS
72
GUIDE
Blowgun
114
out of use. It is interesting to note that
in this region the metal arrowpoints used
of late years are not usually the flat imita-
tions of stone points made by most tribes,
but reproductions in iron of the conical
deer-antler arrowpoint. The arrow with
knobbed point for stunning small game
occurs here/but is not so abundant as in
other parts of the East.
Mention has been made of the use of the
blowgun by the tribes of the Iroquoian
group, but it is not until we reach
the Southeastern Woodland area that we
find this curious weapon fully developed.
Two types are found here, of which the
commonest is a tube of cane, about 8 feet
in length, with a diameter at the butt of
about three-quarters of an inch, made by
carefully straightening and seasoning a
selected stalk, then boring out with a special
instrument the septa or partitions closing
the tube at the joints. The second variety
was made by splitting a straight-grained
stick of cypress or of similar wood, grooving
the two halves to form the bore, fitting
them together, wrapping them with twine,
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
73
and finally coating the whole with gum or
wax. The darts used in both types of
blowgun were made usually of strips of
cane ranging from 10 to 20 inches long,
steamed and twisted into a screw-like form
to prevent warping. These were perma-
nently feathered, or rather tufted, with
thistle-down or similar material tied on
spirally, in which respect North American
blowgun darts differ from those of South
America, in which region the tufting material
(usually cotton) that serves as a " gas-
check" is wrapped about the dart just before
placing it in the tube. Another difference
lies in the fact that while South American
blowgun darts are poisoned, there is no
record of this custom in North America.
The darts were propelled with a quick puff
of the breath, which gave them force enough
to kill small game.
No warclubs were found among any of
the surviving tribes once living in this area,
although a few tomahawks appeared; but
there is evidence that the curved hardwood
club shaped like the blade of a simitar or
cutlass was used in early days. This
War
implements
114 C
AND MONOGRAPHS
74
GUIDE
Fishing
apparatus
114 A
Religion
implement, in the western part of the dis-
trict at least, was sometimes provided with
a ball on the back, carved from the same
piece of wood, apparently for the purpose
of giving additional weight.
Fishing was carried on largely with nets
and weirs, but small traps such as may be
seen in the collection, as well as spears, and
lines provided with bone hooks, were also
employed. The shooting of fish with bow
and arrow was widely practised, and still
survives among some of the bands. In the
exhibit is a small, rude bow connected with
Its arrow by a retrieving string, used by
modern Choctaw boys in shooting fish.
The tribes of this region, like many others,
believed in a number of powerful spirits
or gods dominated by a great spirit who
often was identified with or represented
by the sun, while some of these Indians
regarded the sun as the great spirit's chief
helper among the subordinate powers.
According to accounts by early travelers,
temples were erected upon artificial mounds
for religious purposes, and many ceremonies,
varying in complexity among the several
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
75
tribes, were enacted. There were also
the usual shamans, or medicine-men, who
often combined the functions of priest,
juggler, and physician.
Of late years the old beliefs and rites
have been rapidly disappearing; they are
represented in the collection only by the
drums, rattles, and whistles used to ac-
company the singing, a few masks, and
a wand trimmed with eagle-feathers em-
ployed in the "eagle dance," which seems
to be related to the calumet ceremony of the
Mississippi valley tribes. A curious rattle
is made of many land- turtle shells, each
containing pebbles, which, when attached
to a legging and worn by women in dances,
made a loud rattling noise with every step.
There are also some "scratchers," or
scarifiers, made of bone points set in eagle-
quills, used for ceremonially letting blood
from the limbs and back on certain occa-
sions— for instance, just before engaging in
an intervillage game of "racket." In these
games the players often wore tails of horses,
panthers, deer, and even squirrels, as
Musical in-
strument?
Masks
114 AC
139
Scarifiers
114 A
Animal
charms
114 A
" AND MONOGRAPHS
76
GUIDE .
Pipes
114 C
140
Games
114 A
charms to imbue the wearers with the
strength, agility, or prowess of these animals.
The native pipes used within the memory
of the survivors of these tribes were small,
usually simple bowls of pottery, stone, or
even wood, provided with short stems
of cane or of wood. In stone, the best were
made by the Cherokee, as may be seen by
several examples which show skilful carv-
ing and are frequently ornamented with
animal effigies; while the best recent pottery
pipes were made by the Catawba.
With respect to games, the most spec-
tacular and popular was "racket," or "ra-
quette," mentioned above, played as a rule
much like lacrosse, with the exception that
each player used two small netted sticks,
or "rackets," to manipulate the ball,
instead of the single large one seen in the
North. This is still played. Also very
popular in old days, but now obsolete, was
a form of the hoop-and-pole game found
among so many North American tribes,
played in this region with a stone disc, or
chunkey-stone, rolled along a prepared
course as a target for the darts of the
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
77
players, in place of the wooden hoops em-
ployed elsewhere for this purpose. Dice
games similar to those of other regions were
also played by these tribes, but here a
shallow basket of cane usually took the
place of the wooden bowl noted elsewhere as
a receptacle in which to toss the dice.
All the tribes of the district in whose
domain navigable waters were found, made
dugout canoes varying in size according to
need, and differing somewhat in type in
different localities. The hopper-shaped bur-
den-basket carried on the back *in gathering
corn was also employed when it was neces-
sary to transport commodities in sections
remote from rivers or other waterways.
Of the various types of native houses
once built in this district, only two seem to
survive: (1) the rectangular palm-thatched
lodge of the Seminole, which has a good
gable roof and an inside floor or platform
raised two or three feet from the ground,
but no walls; and (2) the partially modern-
ized and somewhat similar house of the
Houma, but which is provided with walls,
as well as a roof, of palm-leaves. In for-
Canoes
109
111 (top)
Burden-
baskets
114 B (and
top)
Houses
AND MONOGRAPHS
78
GUIDE
Beds
Stools
Baskets
Bags
114 B (and
top)
136
Food
utensils
114 AB
136
mer times, however, according to early
travelers, circular or oval houses also were
seen in some parts of the region, and roofs
were often arched, or made in the form of a
dome, as well as gabled. In some localities
walls and roof were of bark or of mats
instead of thatch; and in others the walls
were made of -wattlework plastered with
mud — the so-called "wattle-and-daub" con-
struction. Council-houses, temples, and
the dwellings of the chiefs, were frequently
built upon artificial mounds of earth.
The beds in such houses were often raised
platforms, upon which were spread mats,
the skins of bears and other animals, and
in some cases woven fabrics of vegetal
fiber or of buffalo-hair. Some tribes made
low stools of wood, suggesting the wooden
stools of the West Indies and of South
and Central America. For storage, bas-
kets, usually of cane, were generally em-
ployed, together with woven bags of fiber
similar to those used by other Eastern Wood-
land Indians. Among other household
effects are found spoons and ladles of wood
and of buffalo-horn, and some wooden
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
79
bowls and trays; but in this region wooden
vessels are largely supplanted by pottery,
which was used more freely here than in
any other district north of Mexico except
the Pueblo region of the Southwest. Most
of the surviving tribes, as the collection
shows, have made the strictly utilitarian
forms of earthenware up to within recent
years; and the Catawba have not only done
this, but still make, by aboriginal methods,
a finer grade of pottery which has found a
considerable local market in South Carolina.
Gourds were widely used in this region also,
being made into water-bottles, bowls, and
dippers.
Cradle-boards are not now to be found
among the surviving Southeastern tribes;
and it appears that for a long time, at
least, the hammock alone has served the
purpose of a cradle. We have, however,
some historical references to the use of
cradle-boards made of wood among the
Choctaw, and of cane among the tribes
near the mouth of the Mississippi, at the
time of the first settlement; hence it seems
at least possible that the other peoples
Pottery
114 B
(and top)
136
140 C
Gourd
vessels
114 A B
Cradle-
. boards
AND MONOGRAPHS
80
GUIDE
Dress
113 B
114 B C
133 (draw-
ers)
Personal
ornaments
113 B
114 B C
130 B C
(and
drawers)
of the region once used something of the
kind.
The only garments of native character
found in recent years among the Indians
once inhabiting this district have been
breechcloths made of commercial materials,
and deerskin leggings and moccasins, all
worn by men and resembling somewhat
those used' farther north; besides which
there are tunics and coats for the men, and
skirts and short waists for the women,
made of traders' light cotton fabrics and
showing a combination of European and
native ideas. Deerskin coats are some-
times collected from these tribes, which in
cut show the influence of the whites of the
Colonial period, and which probably origi-
nated about that time. A turban-like
headdress was often worn by the men. By
way of ornaments, the collection displays
shoulder-pouches neatly woven of yarn
and fiber, or made of cloth and profusely
beaded, as were many fancy belts and
sashes. These, with sashes and garters of
yarn, some with beads interwoven, and
sashes, garters, and hair-ornaments of
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
81
woven beadwork, were worn by men on
ceremonial occasions until recently. The
waists of the women were covered with
home-made brooches and discs of silver,
and both sexes wore earrings, bracelets,
and hair-ornaments of the same metal.
In addition the men wore silver head-bands,
arm-bands, and gorgets, usually pounded
out and fashioned like the other ornaments
by native silversmiths, but sometimes
bought from traders.
So much for modern costumes. We have,
however, a number of accounts of ancient
dress recorded by early travelers among the
Southeastern Woodland tribes, which indi-
cate some variation in different parts of the
region, yet, on the whole, a decided simi-
larity throughout. For the men the sum-
mer dress was apparently only the breech-
clout, with or without moccasins; the win-
ter dress, deerskin leggings and moccasins,
and a robe of skins, native cloth, or feather-
work on a textile foundation. Only in
the west, near the mouth of the Missis-
sippi, is the shirt mentioned, described as
being made of two deerskins and as reaching
Ancient
dress
AND MONOGRAPHS
82
GUIDE
Basketry
114
136
Beadwork
113 B
114B
133 (draw-
ers)
midway down the thigh. Women wore
in summer a rectangular garment of deer-
skin or of woven fabric belted about the
waist as a skirt, and sometimes a similar
though smaller garment passing about the
upper part of the body under one arm, with
the corners fastened together on the oppo-
site shoulder so as to leave both arms free,
and a robe over all in cold weather, together
with deerskin moccasins similar to those of
the men.
Of late years these peoples have expressed
their artistic instincts, for the greater
part, in basketry, of which are exhibited
a number of fine specimens made from
split cane, mainly from the Chitimacha and
the Cherokee; and in beadwork, of which
is shown a collection, both sewn and woven,
from several of the tribes. It will be
noticed that the prevailing patterns of the
sewn beadwork are quite distinctive, and
are based on various forms of the scroll,
which, it is interesting to note, is often seen
on ancient pottery from the ancestral
territory of these tribes, and on sun-like
emblems that recall their ancient sun-
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
S3
worship. The patterns on the woven bead
ornaments are, the Indians say, intended
chiefly to represent the markings of the
rattlesnake and other serpents. Ribbon-
work applique, which reached its highest
development among the Central Algon-
kians, is seen here in cruder form on cloth
leggings and other garments.
Early travelers in the Southeastern
Woodland district have much to say of the
numerous textiles of the natives, woven
from various fibers, and from opossum-
hair and buffalo-wool, praising especially
their beautiful featherwork mantles, com-
bining lightness and warmth, the selected
feathers of which were each separately
attached to the woven fabric foundation.
Today the only textiles to be found are
occasional woven bags such as are shown in
the collection, and a few sashes and garters
woven from yarn, some of them with beads
interwoven to form a pattern.
No mention of the surviving arts of these
people wrould be complete without reference
to the modern pottery of the Catawba,
made by aboriginal methods, which from
Ribbon-
work
114 B C
133 (draw-
ers)
Textile art
113 B
114 C
Catawba
pottery
HOB
AND MONOGRAPHS
84
GUIDE
Silverwork
114 BC
130 BC
the standpoint of fine workmanship, finish,
and symmetrical incised decoration, can
not be excelled by the ancient ware. The
forms, however, show in many cases modi-
fications due to contact with the whites.
In conclusion, attention should be called
to the taste and skill exhibited in making
the ornaments of silver, an art which, of
course, has grown up since the Indians
first obtained that metal from the whites;
but in this region, at least, silverworking
seems to be a lineal descendant of the
ancient art of making ornaments of ham-
mered copper, practised by the ancestors
of the tribes in question.
VILLAGE INDIANS OF THE
PLAINS
(Cases 115, 116 A, 117, 130 BC, 133 A
drawers, 139 B, 143)
Along the eastern border of the Great
Plains from what is now Texas northward
lived a number of tribes whose arts and
customs were similar in most respects to
those of the Prairie Nomads, but which
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
85
occupied permanent villages and depended
on agriculture to provide a considerable
part of their food supply. These are
represented in the collection by the Pawnee,
^S%
Village Indians of the Plains
Wichita, Caddo, and Arikara, of the Cad^
doan linguistic stock, and the Mandan and
Hidatsa of the Siouan family.
Of these the Caddo and Wichita were
perhaps less typical of the group than the
Culture
AND MONOGRAPHS
86
GUIDE
Bone-
bladed hoe
115 C
Hunting
others, especially the former, who lived,
when first met by the whites, in a partly
wooded rather than a prairie region, and
whose culture was strongly influenced by
the Southeastern Woodland tribes. The
highest development of the group, especially
noticeable in their complex ceremonies,
was attained by the Pawnee in the south
and the Mandan in the north.
The growing of crops of corn, beans, and
pumpkins, was conducted in ' much the
same simple manner as among other agri-
cultural tribes of North America. As to
the implements used, the Museum is in-
debted to a ceremony of the Wichita
which requires the use of a hoe made in
the ancient manner with the scapula-bone
of buffalo as a blade, for the presence of
one of these articles in the collection; the
stone-headed hoe seen beside it is simply
an ancient implement mounted on a wooden
handle in modern times to show the method
of attachment.
Before the people obtained horses, buffalo,
which formed a large part of their meat
supply, were captured with the aid of
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
87
pounds or traps suggesting those employed
by the northerly tribes for catching caribou;
but when horses became available, care-
fully regulated attacks en masse were made
upon the herds by bands of mounted hun-
ters after the manner of the true buffalo-
hunting Prairie Nomads. When the signal
to charge had been given, each horseman
would pick out his prey from among the
herd, ride up alongside, and aim to implant
his arrow at short range in some vital part.
A vertebra of a buffalo pierced by the metal
point of an arrow shot into the animal by a
mounted hunter, is displayed.
The bows used by these tribes resembled
closely the types employed by the Prairie
Nomads of their region, but seem as a rule
to be somewhat longer and to have been
used with longer arrows armed with metal
or bone (formerly with stone) points. As
to warclubs, not only the stone-headed
skull-cracker of the Plains region, but the
"gun-stock" form of wooden club appeared,
and even the "globe-headed" wooden club,
typical of the Eastern Woodland, was
sometimes found. Tomahawks with metal
• Arrow-
penetrated
bone
115 C
War
implements
115AC
AND MONOGRAPHS
88
GUIDE
Horses and
their equip-
ment
115 C
blades have been used since early contact
with whites, and the lance was a favorite
weapon for the mounted warrior. Most
of the tribes used the circular shield made
of the tough neck-skin of "a buffalo-bull,
dried and shrunk until it became practically
impenetrable by arrows, and, if held at
the proper angle, would turn even a bullet
from an old-fashioned smooth-bore musket.
These shields were provided with covers
handsomely painted with symbolic designs,
as may be seen by the specimen shown.
For many years these Indians have
traveled and transported their goods with
the aid of horses, the Caddo and Wichita
having obtained them at an early date —
probably earlier than any of the other
Indians of the group. This is indicated
by the fact that the companions of La Salle
found horses among Caddo tribes as early
as 1687, and indeed the Coronado expedi-
tion camped among the Wichita of Kan-
sas as early as 1541-42. The riding gear
seems to be quite similar to that seen
among the prairie nomads. It should be
noted that some at least of the very tribes
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
89
which we now regard as typical nomadic
buffalo-hunters belonged originally to the
Village Indian class under discussion, but
were tempted to leave their corn-fields and
permanent settlements when the introduc-
tion of the horse opened for them a sure
and ready means of procuring food and a
convenient method of transporting their
effects — vastly superior to the dog-pack and
dog-travois with which their ancestors had
been obliged to content themselves. Like
the true Prairie Nomads, the Village Indians
of the Plains employed the bull-boat, or
round coracle, made by stretching buffalo-
hides over a frame of poles. It may be
of interest to note that the Mandan and
Hidatsa collections in the Museum were
transported across the Missouri river by
means of the bull-boat exhibited in the
northwest corner of the hall. While the
nomadic tribes made such boats for tem-
porary use only, to ferry their possessions
across streams reached in their wanderings,
the Village Indians whose settlements were
situated on the banks of large rivers kept
them permanently.
Bull-boat
AND MONOGRAPHS
i
90
GUIDE
Religion
Sacred
bundles
Hidatsa
shrine
143
Ceremonial
objects
Charms
115 A B
116A
133 C
139 D
Magic sash
115 B
The religion of all these tribes seems to
have had the usual basis of a belief in a
number of powerful beings, many represent-
ing the forces of nature, such as the sun,
the thunder, and the four winds. In ad-
dition, in some cases, at least, a dominat-
ing power, a chief of the gods, or great
spirit, called Tirdwa by the Pawnee, and
by a name meaning "Lord of Life" by
the Mandan, prevailed. Many of the
tribes, notably the Pawnee, possessed a
number of sacred bundles containing the
symbolic objects about which many of their
ceremonies centered, and in some cases
bundles had so developed in size and com-
plexity that they had to be kept in shrines
made for the purpose. An excellent ex-
ample of such a shrine, from the Hidatsa,
is . exhibited, and elsewhere a number of
other objects used in ceremonies, such as
rattles, drums, a whistle, and regalia,
together with charms made in the form of
tiny deerskin dolls, worn attached to neck-
laces to bring good fortune. Another
interesting amulet is a sash made of wisps
of buffalo-hair, which, when worn by their
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
91
leader, was supposed to make an entire
war-party look like buffalo in the eyes of
their enemy — a kind of hypnotic camou-
flage, as it were.
The present pipes of the Village Indians
of. the Plains are similar to those of the
prairie nomads, with massive L- or T-shape
bowls of red or black stone, and long wooden
stems; but there is evidence that other
forms were made in the past, especially
by the Caddo. Considerable variation in
size is shown by those displayed.
Among games are found the widespread
hoop-and-pole; the woman's game of dou-
ble-ball, played with two balls connected
by a short string, thrown about with a
straight or slightly curved stick; the game
of stick-dice; the game of dice thrown in
a bowl; the woman's football game; shinny;
snow-snake; the hand game; the moccasin
game, and probably a number of others,
but apparently no form of lacrosse. Some
of these games were found among all the
tribes of the group, others among part of
them only.
Pipes
115 B
Games
115 B
AND MONOGRAPHS
92
GUIDE
Houses
Beds
Two main types of dwellings were built
by these tribes, of which the more typical
was the earth-lodge, consisting of a large
low dome of logs, poles, and grass, covered
with earth and sods, entered through a
sort of vestibule and provided with a smoke-
hole at the top. The southern type,
found among the peoples whose survivors
are now combined under the heads of
Wichita and Caddo, was a commodious
structure of poles, of bee-hive form, cov-
ered with a carefully constructed thatch
of grass. All of the tribes, except perhaps
the Caddo, used the conical tent or tipi
also, mainly as a temporary shelter while
buffalo hunting. Both earth -lodges and
grass-houses were encircled on the inside
with bunks made of poles raised a foot or
so from the ground, serving as chairs and
tables by day, and as beds by night, while
the space ±>eneath was used for storage.
These bunks were often separated with
curtains of skins or mats, and when pro-
vided with bedding of buffalo-skins, soft-
tanned with the thick wool left on, made
comfortable beds. Household effects con-
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
93
sisted of pottery vessels among most, if
not all, of the tribes, of which we show an
example from the Mandan; wooden bowls
and spoons; spoons of buffalo and moun-
tain-sheep horn; wooden mortars and pestles
for grinding corn; baskets among some
tribes, especially the Caddo, who retained
the art until recent years; and various bags
and envelopes of skin for storage purposes.
The woven bags seen among most of the
tribes east of the Mississippi, and even
among the Southern Siouans, were appar-
ently not manufactured to any extent by
the Village Indians of the Plains.
The only cradle-board in the collection
from any of these people is one from the
Wichita, made of thin wooden rods lashed
side by side on an oval frame, and provided
with a curved headpiece, together with a
bow, made of two willow rods, to protect
the infant's face. An unusual feature is
the small stool or bench of wood provided
to set the head of the cradle upon to raise
it from the floor.
The costume of these tribes, except the
Caddo, differed little from that of the no-
Utensils
115 C
Cradle-
board
115 C
AND MONOGRAPHS
94
GUIDE
Dress
115 AB
116 A
133 C
(drawers)
Ornaments
115 A
130 B C
madic Plains peoples, consisting, for the
men, of a shirt of soft-tanned skin, a breech-
cloth, long leggings, and moccasins; while
the women, besides short leggings and
moccasins, wore the skin gown reaching
from the shoulders to the ankles and pro-
vided with short open sleeves. Both sexes
wore the robe, usually of buffalo-skin; and
the typical eagle-feather war-bonnet of the
Plains was a favorite headdress among men
who from their exploits were qualified to
wear it. The Caddo costume was originally
more similar to that of the Southeastern
tribes than to the Plains styles, and, strange
to say, in later years, before adopting gar-
ments of civilization, they seem to have
copied the costume of the Delawares living
near them to a considerable extent, and
became, like the Delawares, expert in the
manufacture of earrings, brooches, brace-
lets, and the like, from silver and german-
silver. Whereas the other tribes of the
group all use the hard-soled moccasin
typical of the Plains, the Caddo still wear
the soft one-piece moccasin of the Woodland,
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
95
employing a model of late years practically
indistinguishable from the Delaware style.
No particular style of art can be ascribed
to the whole group, but in beadwork, quill-
work, painting, and other forms of decora-
tion, the resemblance to the art of the
Prairie Nomads is very close indeed. From
excavation of ancient Caddo sites it has
been shown that -these peoples made pottery
of excellent form and decoration. The
Mandan and Hidatsa retained their ceramic
art until comparatively recent years, but
its product does not display the esthetic
development seen in Caddo ware. The
Mandan and Hidatsa still manufacture
handsome burden-baskets of a type not
seen elsewhere.
THE PLAINS AREA
SOUTHERN, CENTRAL, AND NORTHERN
(Cases 116B, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122A,
131, drawers, 133 A B, 135 drawers, 137,
133 C drawers, 140 drawers)
Although it has been found advisable
for exhibition purposes to divide the collec-
tions from the typical . Nomadic Tribes
Art
products
Burden-
baskets
115 C
118 A (top)
AND MONOGRAPHS
96
GUIDE
of the Plains into three groups,— Southern,
Central, and Northern, — the mode of
life of these peoples differed so little that
they may be described as a whole, atten-
Plains Area
tion being directed to such differences in
the material culture as may be necessary.
The Village Indians of the Plains have been
considered separately.
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
97
The principal tribes of the Southern
group are the Comanche, Kiowa, and
Kiowa Apache, ranging the plains of what
is now western Texas, Oklahoma, and
adjoining regions; the principal Northern
peoples, in what is now Montana and
adjacent Canada, were the Blackfeet,
Assiniboin, and Crows; while the Central
group embraced, among others, the Teton
Sioux tribes, the Cheyenne, and the Ara-
paho. A number of languages represent-
ing several distinct linguistic stocks were
spoken in the region, the best represented
in point of population being the Siouan;
next was the western branch of the Algon-
kian family; while Shoshonean, Athapas-
can, and Kiowan languages were also found.
All these tribes were dependent almost
entirely on the buffalo for their livelihood,
and were nomadic in the sense that they
continually moved about, each within its
own tribal territory, in pursuit of the great
bison herds. One favorite ancient method
of securing buffalo was similar to that
employed by the northern Athapascans
in taking caribou. A chute or pound was
Tribes
Buffalo
hunting
AND MONOGRAPHS
98
GUIDE
Effect of
Horses
built with wing fences of brush or piles of
stones spread wide upon the prairie, forming
the sides of an angle whose apex rested
upon the brink of a bluff, at the bottom of
which a tight pen was built. When a
herd was sighted, the hunters hid behind
the wing fences, and an expert in the art
decoyed the animals into the ever-narrow-
ing chute. They were then frightened
by people closing in behind them and
stampeded toward the bluff, where, hemmed
in by the fences, many animals were forced
over the brink into the pen below, where
they were slaughtered.
The coming of horses, descended from
those brought over by Spanish conquerors
in the sixteenth century, introduced from
Mexico and spreading northward from
tribe to tribe throughout the plains two
centuries later, brought about a great
change in buffalo-hunting and in many
other age-old customs, for it was no longer
necessary to build a trap or pound to procure
buffalo-meat — the hunters could mount
their horses, ride into a herd on the open
prairie, select their victims, ride alongside.
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
99
and drive their arrows into the quarry
without difficulty; then go on to another.
The horse made transportation on the
plains easier and quicker, and made it
possible for war-parties to conduct raids
at a great distance from their homes, and
get away speedily after the attack. It
finally came to pass that it was considered
a high honor to capture horses from an ene-
my; many war-parties went out with this
aim only, and did not attempt to kill enemy
tribesmen unless forced to do so. It is
thought that possession of horses led more
than one tribe to abandon a semi-agricul-
tural settled village life to take up the more
adventurous career of buffalo-hunting
nomads.
While the buffalo formed the staff of
life to these people, the hunting of other
food-animals was not neglected. Such
game was hunted with bow and arrow,
trapped, and, in case of antelope, im-
pounded like the buffalo. Fishing was
not an important source of food supply,
but in season the rivers yielded certain
species which were caught in willow pens
Other
hunting
Fishing
AND MONOGRAPHS
100
GUIDE
Food
Tobacco
Bows
Arrows
117 AC
120 A
121 C
or traps made in the eddies, or with lines
provided with bone hooks. Agriculture
was not practised, if we exclude the rais-
ing of small patches of tobacco; but edible
wild roots were dug, and many kinds of
berries and wild fruits were gathered and
dried for use in winter.
The bow used in this district for hunting
and war was quite different from the long
eastern and northern type; it was only
about 3| feet in length, rather flat, and
often made in the "double-curve" pattern.
The back was frequently strengthened
with a layer of sinew glued fast to the wood,
which gave to the weapon an added elas-
ticity. Sometimes the bows were made of
horn. The arrows, about two feet long,
were provided with three long feathers,
the shafts often showing straight and zig-
zag "blood grooves." Arrowheads in re-
cent years have been of iron; in old times
they were made of stone, bone, antler,
and even dried gristle. It is said that
some of the Sioux tribes used no stone
arrowpoints at all, and that, indeed, they
regarded them as of supernatural origin.
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
101
In the line of weapons of war, besides
the bow and arrows may be mentioned
the lance and the stone-headed warclub,
all typical of the Plains, as was the circu-
lar shield made from the thick neck-
skin of the buffalo-bull, decorated with
deerskin covers, feathers, and symbolic
paintings, and tough enough to turn an
arrow, or even a musket-ball, if held at
the proper angle. Other types of warclubs
and tomahawks with metal blades were
used here as in other regions.
The famous "Sun dance" was the great
religious observance among most of the
tribes of this area; but there were many
minor ceremonies, for some of which the
collection shows rattles, drums, and regalia.
In the last class may be included the two
handsomely painted costumes of deerskin
used by the Arapaho in the Ghost dance.
Also exhibited is a collection ef the para-
phernalia used in the Peyote ceremony,
including samples of the dried cactus eaten
during the rites to cause the participants
to have visions. These peyote "buttons"
were derived mainly from the Southern
Other
weapons
118A
120 C
121 A
122 A
Religion
Ceremonial
objects
118C
120 C
Peyote rite
133 A
AND MONOGRAPHS
102
GUIDE
Sacred
bundle
132
"Buffalo
stones"
137 A B
Pipes
117B
120 C
135 C
Pipe-bags
116B
117B
120 C
121 B
135 (draw-
ers)
140 C D
(drawers)
Plains tribes. Among other articles per-
taining to religion and ceremony may be
mentioned a Kiowa sacred bundle used
by the society of Buffalo Doctors; a fine
collection of charms called "buffalo-stones,"
used by medicine-men whose function it
was to "call" the herds into the pounds or
traps, or to give good luck to mounted
buffalo-hunters — a development from the
tribes of the Northern Plains. There is
also a great variety of charms, used for
various purposes, among the objects ex-
hibiting the customs of the Plains Indians.
The form of smoking pipe employed
throughout the Plains in ceremonies and
for daily use was the well-known pattern
commonly called the "peace-pipe" which
has become almost a symbol for American
Indian pipes in general — a large T-shape
or L-shape bowl of red or black stone, with
a long wooden stem, usually flat, but some-
times cylindrical or carved in spiral form.
This was kept in a specially made pipe-bag,
of which the collection contains many
specimens, together with the mixture of
tobacco and other herbs smoked by the
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
103
owner. An archaic form of straight pipe
resembling a cigar-holder in form has also
been found among most of the tribes of
this group.
The nomadic Plains peoples enjoyed a
number of games and toys, varying some-
what in the different districts. Common
to all seems to have been the hoop-and-pole
game; while shinny, football, the woman's
game of double-ball, several forms of dice,
snow-snake, and the cup-and-pin game,
are all represented in the collections, to-
gether with such toys as dolls, tops, and
sleds.
As before mentioned, for many years
Indian transportation on the plains has
depended on the horse, used either as a
pack-animal or to draw the travois (the
native substitute for a wagon), consisting
of two long poles attached at one end to
the saddle, while the other ends dragged
on the ground some distance behind the
animal. To these poles was lashed a cir-
cular or an oval netted frame, on which
the travelers tied their effects. Before
horses were obtained, the Indians used
Games
Toys
117A
120 D
121 B
137 C
Travois
121 C (top)
AND MONOGRAPHS
104
GUIDE
Parfleches
120 B
135 (draw-
ers)
137 D
Other
containers
118B
120 A
121 C
135 (draw-
ers)
Saddle-bags
120 A
122 A
135 (draw-
ers)
Saddles
120 A
121A
(top)
dogs in similar fashion, both as pack-ani-
mals and for pulling a small travois. Among
the collections from these Plains tribes
may be seen a number of rectangular
painted cases of rawhide, called parfleches,
which are made in pairs and are intended
especially to contain food or other belong-
ings to be carried on a pack-horse, one
case on each side, pannier-fashion. Smaller
cases of soft- tanned skin, also made in
pairs, usually profusely decorated with
bead- or quill-work, also figure prominently
in the Plains exhibits, and served for the
storage and transportation of clothing and
ornaments. These too were intended to
be carried one on each side of the saddle.
True saddle-bags, used for no other pur-
pose, were also made.
Two main types of saddle were found
among these tribes: one, used by women,
shows a very high pommel and cantle
front and back, and is often highly
decorated; the man's type, also used as a
pack-saddle on occasion, shows a low pom-
mel and cantle, sometimes made of antler
of elk or deer. Breast-bands and cruppers
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
105
to hold the saddle in place were often
handsomely decorated, and the bridles
were nicely beaded, or were covered with
silver or german-silver. Men often rode,
however, without a bridle, merely twisting
a lasso about the horse's lower jaw, and
thus guiding the animal. Saddle-blankets
were made of soft-tanned skins and were
handsomely decorated, as may be seen.
Among the trappings for horses are also
displayed some quirts, or riding-whips.
The only boat built by these Indians
was the curious round "bull-boat," of
which an example hangs in the northwest
corner of the hall. These were made in a
little while, of willow poles and buffalo-
skins, whenever the tribe encountered a
large deep stream in their wanderings and
needed to ferry their belongings across,
being afterward demolished and the skins
used for other purposes.
The characteristic dwelling used by the
nomadic tribes of the Plains was the conical
tipi or tent of skins, which here reached
the height of its development. At each
side of the smoke-hole were movable flaps
Other
horse
equipment
120 A
121 C
140
(drawers)
Bull-boat
Tipi
AND MONOGRAPHS
106
GUIDE
Back-rests
120 B
Beds
Household
effects
117 A
120 BC
121 C
Food
boiling
of skin supported by poles by which the
draft could be regulated and the tent kept
free of smoke; while a lining inside kept
direct drafts of air from striking the occu-
pants. Most tipis were provided with
decorated back-rests made of osiers, sup-
ported on tripods; sometimes when the
camp was to be comparatively permanent,
raised couches were built, supported on
forked sticks, on which was spread the
buffalo-skin bedding. Besides the rawhide
parfleches, cases of similar material for
ceremonial regalia, the soft- tanned storage
bags, and smaller beaded bags for toilet
articles and paint, household effects were
few — merely wooden bowls and spoons of
wood and horn for serving food, some stone-
headed hammers used with a stone mortar
and a mat of skin for pounding meat and
crushing berries, and a few skin-dressing
tools. A limited number of small coiled
baskets were made by some tribes for use
in games.
Liquid food was boiled by putting it in
a hole lined with a piece of skin, which
made a primitive but watertight receptacle,
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
107
and dropping in hot stones in the same
manner as that observed among other
tribes which boiled foods in kettles of
basketry, wood, or bark, a custom that
gave the Assiniboin Indians their name
among the Algonkians.
The costumes of the Plains tribes are
so picturesque and so well known that they
have come to symbolize Indian costume
in general, and are frequently, if errone-
ously, depicted by uninformed artists and
illustrators as the "native costume" of
any American Indians, whatever their
tribe or region. The men wore a short
shirt with heavily fringed sleeves, a breech-
cloth, and long fringed leggings, all made
of soft- tanned skin, often profusely orna-
mented with quilled and painted patterns,
and sometimes fringed with pieces of
scalps. Equally picturesque was the long
gown of the women, reaching almost to
the ankles, provided with wide but short
fringed sleeves open along the lower edge
and worn with short leggings, to which,
in some tribes, the moccasins were attached,
forming a kind of boot. Throughout the
Dress
131 (draw-
ers)
135 (draw
ers)
137 (draw-
ers)
138 (draw-
ers)
140 (draw-
ers)
Shirts
117B C
118A
121 A
Women's
costume
117B
118B
119AB
121A
122 A
Moccasins
117B
118B
141
AND MONOGRAPHS
108
GUIDE
Robes
119B
Stairway
War-
bonnet
117C
118A
Quillwork
(See Dress
above)
Painting
116B
Stairway
Beadwork
(See Dress
above)
Plains district the hard-sole moccasin, very
different from the soft moccasin of the
North and East, was worn by both men and
women. Both sexes wore robes of soft-
tanned skins, frequently handsomely painted
and decorated. An especially spectacular
article of dress was the headdress or " war-
bonnet" of eagle-feathers worn by the
men in some of their dances and on occa-
sions of ceremony and parade. As may be
seen from the specimens, the head was
encircled with a row of the large feathers,
while another row extended down the back
in the form of a trailer.
The art of the Plains tribes found its
greatest expression in the old days in por-
cupine-quill embroidery, the work of women,
and in painting, one form of which — the
making of conventional figures for decora-
tion only — was also woman's work. The
painting of realistic pictures depicting war
exploits and the like on robes and tipis
fell to the lot of the men, however.
When glass beads were introduced by
the whites, they soon became very popular,
and in some of the tribes beadwork has
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
109
entirely supplanted the old embroideries
This art work, examples of which may be
seen in all the cases illustrating this group,
reached its most typical development in
the Central district, among such tribes as
the Teton Sioux bands, the Cheyenne, and
the Arapaho. Here we find a great variety
of patterns, but from the examples dis-
played it will be observed that they are
all combinations of straight lines and
angles, without any attempt at curvilinear
or floral motives. In both the Northern and
the Southern Plains, however, although
most of the patterns are angular, curved
designs, some of them undoubtedly floral
in origin, may be found. Other differences
may be seen in the technique of beadwork;
for the beads in the Central district are
applied in short loops, while in the North
and in the South they are usually laid
smoothly. As contrasted with the Central
and Northern districts, the costumes of
the South show more refinement and deli-
cacy of cut and workmanship, and even
the deerskin fringes are cut finer.
AND MONOGRAPHS
110
GUIDE
Baby-
carriers
117A
118B
121 C
•
Local differences in the different parts
of the Plains may be seen in the baby-
carriers also, for in the North we find an
oval board, rather pointed at the lower
end, forming a base for the slipper-shape
case in which the infant is tied; in the Cen-
tral district the case is attached to a frame
consisting of two narrow upright sticks
connected by cross-pieces; while in the
South the upright sticks of the frame
are boards, broad and long. In each
instance the case itself is profusely orna-
mented, and in the Central and Northern
districts was often used without any frame
or board at all.
INDIANS OF THE NORTHERN
PLATEAU
(Cases 122 B, 123, 138 drawers, 141. Also
Second Floor)
Occupying the territory now comprising
Idaho, western Montana, eastern Oregon
and Washington, and southeastern British
Columbia, lived a group of tribes classed
for convenience as the Indians of the
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
111
Northern Plateau. Of these, among the
tribes represented in the exhibit, the Sho-
shone and Bannock belong to the Sho-
shonean stock; the Nez Perces, Klikitat,
Indians of the Northern Plateau
Umatilla, Topinish, and Yakima, to the
Shahaptian stock; the Wasco to the Chi-
nookan, and the Flatheads to the Salish-
an stock, while the Kutenai are regarded
AND MONOGRAPHS
112
GUIDE
Culture
as forming a stock by themselves. The
specimens labeled "The Dalles" are prob-
ably mainly of Wasco origin, as are those
from Mamaluce island; while the objects
marked "Warm Springs" are probably
Wasco also, as this is the principal tribe
on the Warm Springs reservation, Oregon,
although they may be from one of several
small Shahaptian tribes formerly living
near the Wasco about The Dalles on
Columbia river, and now combined with
them.
Up to 150 years ago the culture of the
tribes of the Northern Plateau seems to
have been very simple and undeveloped,
although most of them were better provided
with the necessaries of life than were so
many bands inhabiting the semi-arid
Southern Plateau region. They were more
or less nomadic; the social organization was
very loose, and the chiefs had little power.
As in other instances mentioned, the intro-
duction of the horse seems to have brought
about a transformation throughout the
district, making life easier and rendering
travel and the consequent exchange of
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
113
ideas not only possible but pleasant, with
the result that many features characteris-
tic of the Plains tribes were introduced,
especially styles of dress. This wave of
Plains influence seems to have reached the
Columbia river about 1806.
For subsistence most of the Indians of
this region, excepting some of the Shoshoni,
depended largely on salmon, which was the
principal food of the tribes living along the
Columbia, and was not only eaten fresh,
but was dried and pounded to a kind of
meal which could be kept a long time.
There was no attempt at agriculture, but
natural vegetal products, such as roots
and berries, were widely used, and deer
and other game were hunted and formed
important articles of food. Some tribes
occupied regions poor in such natural
resources, and these were glad if they could
find enough seeds, grasshoppers, and small
mammals to keep them from starvation.
Fish were caught with seines, dip-nets,
spears, and hooks, while fish-weirs and
traps were not uncommon. The bow and
arrow were the chief weapon for hunting.
Food
Fishing
Hunting
123 A B
AND MONOGRAPHS
114
GUIDE
Canoes
142 (top)
Balsas
The bows were made of wood or horn,
backed with sinew; while the fur quivers
of the Nez Perces and neighboring tribes
are among the handsomest made by the
American Indians. Before the day of
the horse, hunters were skilful in disguis-
ing themselves in deer- and wolf-skins,
which enabled them to approach their
intended victims without discovery. Traps
and snares were in common use, and game
was surrounded and driven in by large
parties of hunters acting in concert. Buffalo
were found in the Shoshoni country and
were hunted by much the same methods
as those used upon the plains; many of
the tribes of the Columbia valley, after
acquiring horses, made pilgrimages in
force across the mountains to the plains
especially to hunt the bison.
Rude dugout canoes were used in most
parts of the region, but a curious craft
made usually of pine-bark or of birchbark
and provided with long, ram-like projec-
tions at bow and stern, was used by some
bands. The Shoshoni, however, seem to
have used balsas or rafts made of bundles
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
115
of rushes, even for fishing, and no canoes
of any kind. With the introduction of
horses came also saddles and other riding-
gear typical of the Plains tribes.
Taking the Nez Perces as a type, and
not attempting to enter into the variations
among the numerous tribes of the district,
it may be said that their religion consisted
of a belief in a great number of spirits or
powers, of which the sun seems to have been
the chief seat of wisdom; any of these might
become a guardian spirit when acquired
through visions while fasting in youth.
Dreams produced by revery, fasting, and
vigil, were thought to be the means of
communication between the material and
the spiritual worlds. The most sacred and
mystical religious ceremony was a Guardian
Spirit dance, in which songs connected
with visions were sung and in which only
persons blessed with a guardian spirit
could take an active part. The Sun dance,
so characteristic of the Plains region, does
not seem to have found favor with the
Northern Plateau peoples.
Religion
Ceremonies
AND MONOGRAPHS
116
GUIDE
Pipes
123 C
Games
123 A
Houses
The pipes in the collection from this
region are of two general types — one re-
sembling more or less the style of the Plains,
the other consisting of a rather small stone
bowl which varied considerably in shape
and was provided with a short stem of
wood.
As to games, the Nez Perces may again
be selected as typical of the group. One
of the most popular was the "hand game,"
played with two cylinders of bone, one of
which is encircled by a distinguishing
mark. These were shuffled, then held in
the hands by one player, when the opponent
tried to guess which hand contained the
marked bone. Long sticks were used as
counters. Bone dice were also used in
sets of four, and plum-stone dice, the hoop-
and-pole, and shinny games, were known.
Two forms of dwellings were widely used
in the region, the most popular of which
was a mat-covered tent or tipi. The
conical shape was not always employed,
however, being often supplanted by a form
suggesting the modern A-tent, but some-
times large enough to accommodate several
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
117
families. The other type of habitation,
used in regions where conditions favored a
more sedentary life, was the underground
house, a circular excavation covered with
a dome-shape roof of poles and earth, in
the center of which was a hole through
which the occupants entered, descending a
notched log ladder to reach the floor.
Among some tribes of the region, as the
Shoshoni and Bannock, the Plains type of
tipi was employed, while in some places
along the Columbia river houses built of
split planks, like those on the lower reaches
of the stream, were seen.
Mats and skins formed the greater part
of the bedding, and blankets made of
twisted strips of rabbit-skin were known to
some of the tribes. Household effects
consisted largely of baskets and woven
fiber bags (both of which reached a high
stage of development here), and parfleche
cases borrowed from the Plains; but there
were also carved bowls and spoons of wood
and horn, often of a highly ornate character,
and mortars of wood used with stone pestles
for crushing dried fish and roots. Stone
Household
effects
122 B
123 A B
AND MONOGRAPHS
118
GUIDE
Cooking
Cradle-
board
123 A
Dress
123 BC
138 (draw-
ers)
141
mortars also seem to have been used in
old times, and pestle-like stone mallets
served to drive wedges made of antler in
splitting logs.
No pottery was made, except perhaps
among the Shoshoni, all cooking of liquid
foods being accomplished in watertight
baskets by dropping in hot stones.
The cradle-board used in the region was a
variation of the style used in the Southern
Plateau and in the Northern Plains dis-
tricts, consisting of a board of elliptical
outline, somewhat pointed at the lower end,
which was covered with deerskin so arranged
as to form a pouch on one side for the re-
ception of the infant.
For a long time the tribes of this area
have worn soft-tanned skin clothing similar
to that of the Plains Indians, consisting
of shirts, breechcloth, and leggings, for the
men, and gowns and short leggings for
the women; but although the hard-soled
Plains moccasin was worn, especially by
some of the tribes, the typical form of the
region was a soft moccasin with the seam
running along one side of the foot and pro-
IND I AN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
119
vided with a rather high' top. The Plains
type of feather war-bonnet was in general
use. If we may judge by the western tribes
of the region (those along the Columbia),
the original costume was a breechcloth
and a robe for the men, and a short skirt
or waist-cloth and a robe for the women,
Plains influence in dress reaching these
people only in the early years of the 19th
century.
Decorative art found its expression in
several ways in this group, especially in
their basketry, in their woven bags or
wallets, and in their carved bowls and
spoons of wood or horn, all of which are
represented in the collection. Angular
geometric figures are the rule, although some
life-forms appear. Floral patterns are
characteristic of their beadwork today,
but these were perhaps introduced from
the Athapascan tribes to the north, who
obtained them from the Cree, who in turn
either received them from the Ojibwa or
originated them themselves, combining
their own native ideas with motives derived
from the whites.
Decorative
art
122 B
123
AND MONOGRAPHS
120
GUIDE
Culture
A more complete collection from the
several tribes of the Northern Plateau area
may be seen in the West Hall on the Sec-
ond Floor.
INDIANS OF THE SOUTHERN
PLATEAU
(Cases 124, 137 A drawers, 136 C)
Occupying the plateau region of northern
Arizona, western Colorado, Utah, and
Nevada, and adjacent regions, lived a
group of peoples of Shoshonean language,
who, although in reality constituting many
distinct tribes, are usually classed under
the general heads of Ute and Paiute.
. The mode of life and the manufactures
of these Indians seem to have been originally
quite simple and primitive throughout
the district, the people living mainly on
small game, fish, roots, and pinon nuts and
other seeds, without knowledge of agricul-
ture, and with very little hunting of big
game; but in comparatively modern times,
probably within the last century or two,
so strong an influence from the Plains crept
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
121
in that it practically transformed most of
the material culture of the Ute bands and
strongly affected some at least of the Paiute.
Perhaps the coming of the horse was an
Pv7
Indians of the Southern Plateau
important factor in producing the change.
So far as is known, however, their tribal
organization and religious rites seem to
have still remained simple. Surprisingly
AND MONOGRAPHS
122
GUIDE
Food
little specific information has been recorded
concerning either of these two groups.
Buffalo were hunted by the Ute in the
eastern parts of the district by the same
methods as those used by the true Plains
tribes; but farther west deer were practi-
cally the only big game available, and
were hunted with bow and arrow. Some
Ute districts and most Paiute territory
seem to have been almost barren of large
game, and here the people were obliged to
depend for animal food upon rabbits and
smaller creatures, including snakes and
insects, while fish were caught in localities
near lakes and streams. For vegetal food
the seeds of several kinds of grasses were
gathered, and fruits, berries, and nuts,
whenever and wherever they could be
found; while these tribes spent so much
time searching for roots that the Paiute
became popularly known as ''Digger
Indians." Travelers through the more
barren districts about the middle of the
19th century reported that many of the
bands lived in the most abject poverty,
continually on the verge of starvation.
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
123
The use of flint knives and of stone-pointed
arrows seems to have persisted among these
people long after most of the other Indians
had abandoned it; indeed the Paiute were
so poor that they may have been unable
to acquire steel or iron for the purpose.
Several forms of beaters and fans made of
basketry for gathering and winnowing
seeds are found among this group.
The bows and arrows of the Ute differ
little from those of the Central Plains,
from which the type was doubtless adopted;
but the Ute snowshoe exhibited seems to
be a distinct variety, and is the crudest in
the collections. No canoes or boats appear
to have been used for transportation, ex-
cept in some places a kind of raft or balsa,
made of bundles of reeds. Burden-baskets
for transporting foods and firewood were
usually made in conical form in this dis-
trict.
Some writers have spoken of the Ute as
sunworshippers; others state that they be-
lieved in a great spirit who lived in, or was
represented by, the sun; and it is clear
that they must have believed in many
Implements
124 B C
Bows
Arrows
124 C
Snowshoe
124 A
Balsa
Burden
baskets
124 A (top)
Religion
AND MONOGRAPHS
124
GUIDE
Pipes
124 A
Games
minor powers as well. Although the be-
liefs seem to have centered around the
sun, the Sun dance, that characteristic
religious rite of the Plains tribes, was
practised little, if at all, by them. The use
of personal charms, small bags containing
parts of animals or of birds, or curious bits
of stone, symbolizing the dream-helper
seen while fasting in youth, was widespread
among the Ute, who apparently attached
special importance to these amulets.
The only pipes from these people, col-
lected among the Ute, are of the Plains
type. Of games, there are on record from
the group that of stick-dice; of dice made of
wood or of walnut-shells tossed in a basket;
the hand-game; the four-stick game, in
which two large and two small sticks are
arranged under a basket by one player
and the other guesses how they are placed
with reference to each other; a form of
the hoop-and-pole game in which the darts
thrown at the hoop are much smaller than
those used in most other regions; several
forms of cup-and-pin; the women's game
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
. 125
of double-ball; shinny, and a form of foot-
ball.
The original type of dwelling used by
all thee tribes was little more than a wind-
break— san exceedingly rude, roughly dome-
shape structure of poles and brush, almost
roofless, known to the whites as a "wicky-
up." In winter this was covered, more or
less, with skins, but it was a poor apology
for a dwelling at the best. The Paiute
continued to use the wickyup until they
commenced to build modern houses, and
indeed many still inhabit this form of
shelter; but the Ute, especially certain
bands, adopted the conical skin tent or
tipi, along with other Plains features, which
afforded them a comfortable winter dwell-
ing, while in summer many returned to the
wickyup on account of its coolness. Fur-
nishings in the wickyup or in the tipi were
practically absent. The beds were merely
skins spread upon the ground; but the people
did possess one comfort — a kind of blanket
woven of twisted strips of rabbit-skin,
which was soft and warm. A few bowl-
shape baskets for general use, the conical
Houses
Domestic
articles
Rabbit-skin
blankets
AND MONOGRAPHS
126 ■
GUIDE
Basketry
124 A (top)
124 C
136
Other
utensils
124 C
Cradles
124 BC
or semi-cylindrical burden-baskets, the bas-
ketry beaters and winnowers for preparing
seeds, and, most characteristic of all, grace-
ful basketry water-bottles made watertight
with pitch applied inside and out, formed
the greater part of the household effects.
In the collection will be noted also a food-
bowl made from the shell of a large turtle.
It is known that mortars and grinding stones
must have been used. A number of coni-
cal pottery vessels have been found in one
section of the old Paiute country, but
whether these were widely used among
the bands is not known; they are almost
exact copies in clay of the conical burden-
baskets, but of course smaller in size.
The typical Paiute cradle consists of an
ovoid flat frame of wickerwork covered
with deerskin which forms on one side a
kind of pouch having a slit in front for the
reception of the child, closed by lacings,
and surmounted by an aperture for the
child's head, above which a wicker hood
afforded shade and protection. The Ute
form of cradle is similar, except that a board
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
127
cut into the desired form takes the place
of th.e ovoid wicker frame.
The Paiute seem to have gone naked, or
nearly so, much of the time;. but old pic-
tures show that they owned and sometimes
wore simple feather headdresses and neat
fringed garments of soft-tanned skin, in
the form of shirts and leggings for the
men and gowns for the women, resembling
to a certain extent the styles used on the
plains. The Ute, however, seem to have
gone a step farther and to have taken over
bodily from the plains region the war-bon-
nets, men's shirts and leggings, and women's
gowns and short leggings. On careful
inspection, however, it may be noticed that
the fringe on the men's leggings is longer,
as a rule, that the patterns in beadwork
have a different appearance, and that there
are other features which distinguish Ute
costumes from those of the Cheyenne, for
example.
The decorative sense of these people was
expressed for the greater part in beadwork
and in basketry. The beadwork of the
Ute shows a predominance of angular
Dress
124 AC
Art
products
AND MONOGRAPHS
128
GUIDE
patterns such as are seen among most of
the Plains tribes, but differs from them in
that the Ute designs show a preference for
large units and blocks of solid white or of
solid color not seen elsewhere. The tech-
nique of most Ute beadwork is the loop-
stitch, or "lazy stitch," common to most
Central Plains work; but when curved or
floral patterns are employed, the technique
is usually like the flat smooth beadwork
of the Northern Plains tribes. This last
seems to have been the most popular motive
among the Paiute, whose sewed beadwork
shows a larger proportion of designs based
on plant forms; they also made excellent
woven beadwork; and their better basketry
exhibits taste, both in form and in decor-
ation.
DESERT NOMADS
(Cases 125, 126, 132 B, 137 drawers, 139,
140 drawers, 141. Also Second Floor)
Under the head of Desert Nomads are
included the various tribes of Apache and
the Navaho, all speaking Athapascan dia-
lects, and all living in New Mexico and
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
129
Arizona, but at one time ranging in some
of the adjacent regions, although they are
evidently of far northern origin. Omitted
from this group are such tribes as the Mo-
Desert Nomads
have, Pima, and Yuma, who, although
fully as primitive as the Apache, differ
from them in being sedentary and agricul-
tural; and of course the Pueblo tribes,
AND MONOGRAPHS
130
GUIDE
Culture
which occupy great community dwellings
of masonry, are essentially agricultural,
and have reached a stage of development
unsurpassed by any Indians north of
Mexico.
The Apache and Navaho, especially
the former, were wanderers by nature and
very warlike, a people whose raids were
dreaded alike by the sedentary tribes and
by white settlers. However, they did not
devote themselves entirely to war, for they
made considerable progress in several of the
arts, and their social organization, religion,
and ceremonies could hardly be described
as simple. Originally these tribes gained
their living almost entirely by hunting, by
plundering other tribes, and by gathering
natural vegetal products, such as the seeds
of various wild plants and the fruits of the
yucca, agave, and several species of cac-
tus, although agriculture on a small scale
was sometimes practised. Fish were not
eaten, even where available, being pro-
tected by a kind of taboo. For a long time,
however, the Navaho have devoted them-
selves mainly to sheep-raising, have pros-
■
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
131
pered greatly 'in consequence, and are even
increasing in numbers. The bows formerly
used in hunting and war are usually rather
short, rectangular in section, and backed
with a layer of sinew glued tight to the wood
to make them strong and more elastic.
The arrows are of two kinds: one entirely
of wood, resembling Plains styles, with
stone or (more recently) metal points;
while the other consists of a long shaft of
reed or cane provided with a wooden fore-
shaft to which the arrowpoint is secured.
Several types of quivers were used. The
typical warclub of the group is like a modern
slung-shot — a ball of stone covered with
skin and attached loosely to a handle which
may be either pliable or rigid.
Horses have been used for transportation
for a long time by these tribes, the Navaho,
at least, doubtless having first captured
them from Pueblos soon after entering the
Southwest, while horse-raiding from both
Pueblos and whites was a common Apache
practice. Before acquiring horses they
traveled on foot with their effects on their
Weapons
126 B
Transporta-
tion
AND MONOGRAPHS
132
GUIDE
Religion
Amulets
126A
Sacred
bundle
132
backs or packed on their dogs. Canoes
were never used.
The most complex religion of the tribes
of the group is that of the Navaho, who
have many well-defined divinities (nature
gods, animal gods, and local gods), a vast
mythic and legendary lore, hundreds of
significant formulated songs and prayers,
and many intricate ceremonies, certain
important ones of long duration being
performed for healing. The most revered
of their many deities is the "Woman Who
Rejuvenates Herself," who is probably
Mother Nature. Some of the ceremonies
are characterized by the use of masks and
of dry-paintings, and suggest certain rituals
found among the Pueblo tribes. The effi-
cacy of amulets was widely believed in,
especially among some of the Apache bands,
who thought that ocean shells cut in certain
forms and worn on the person would prevent
illness, and that a crude little figurine cut
from the wood of a lightning-riven tree and
worn as an amulet had the power of pre-
venting danger from thunderbolts. A sa-
cred bundle employed in a ceremony known
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
133
as the Knife Chant is displayed with other
of these interesting objects.
The few pipes we have from these people
are more or less of Plains type, but smaller
as a rule; they were more given to smoking
cigarettes with wrappers of corn-husk or
of other native material, than pipes of any
kind.
Among the games played by the Indians
of this group may be enumerated hoop-
and-pole, the moccasin game, the game of
stick-dice, and shinny. Gambling is very
common among them, a favorite means
being, with cards of Mexican derivation.
The dwellings of these Indians were
rude, dome-shape shelters of brush for
summer use, for which were substituted
in winter, at least among the Navaho, a
much more substantial structure of similar
form, covered with earth. The walls of
the typical Navaho winter houses, or
hogdns, were built of logs, likewise earth-
covered, and with low ceilings.
Household effects consist of numerous
blankets, which the Navaho have woven
for many years from the wool of their own
Pipes
126 A
Games
126 A
Houses
Blankets
125 AB
140 (draw-
ers) and
Upper
stairway
AND MONOGRAPHS
134
GUIDE
Baskets
124 (top)
126 A
Water-
bottles
126 A
Cradles
126 A
sheep or from commercial yarn, and, es-
pecially among the Apache, baskets of
varying sizes and shapes for as many pur-
poses, while some of the cooking was done
by the Navaho in pottery vessels of rather
rude construction. A common utensil is
the bottle-shape water vessel of coiled
basketry, coated with pitch on the outside,
employed especially by the Apache tribes.
Indeed it was probably such basketry water-
bottles that gave one of the Apache bands
the Spanish name of "jicarillas." A
traylike basket is also made by the Navaho.
The Apache type of cradle consists of an
elliptical frame of wood, to which slats
are tied crosswise to form the board on
which the child rested, laced in a kind of
sheath of deerskin, with its head protected
and shaded by a hood of willow rods fast-
ened side by side. The Navaho cradle is
quite different, however, being composed
of two slabs of wood fastened together side
by side to form the broad board on which
the child lay, held in position with deer-
skin lashings. The head was protected by
a wide hoop of wood, and a footboard,
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
135
suggesting Eastern cradle forms, was
provided.
The men of all these tribes wore deerskin
shirts resembling the styles used by the
Indians of the Southern Plains; breech-
cloths, to which the Navaho added leggings,
usually a short style, made of flat pieces
of skin folded about the lower leg and held
in place with woven garters; and moccasins,
in place of which most of the Apache wore
high boots with hard soles sharply turned
up at the toe, as the specimens show. Both
peoples have also worn short, wide, cotton
trousers for a long time, but these were
derived from Mexicans. Apache women
wore a rather short skirt of deerskin, and a
cape or poncho that might also be called
a waist, of the same material, together
with high boots like those of the men. The
Navaho women wore a simple woven gown
of native manufacture, and moccasins,
to which long strips of skin were attached
that were wound about the legs like spiral
puttees. The men of one Apache tribe,
the Jicarillas, who have been strongly sub-
jected to Plains influences, apparently re-
Dress
125 B
126 B C
137 (draw-
ers)
140 (draw-
ers)
141
AND MONOGRAPHS
136
GUIDE
N avaho
weaving
125 A B
137 (draw-
ers)
140 (draw-
ers)
Upper
stairway
Silverwork
126A
130 B
ceived largely through the Ute, wore long,
fringed leggings, with low moccasins, and
their women dressed in long gowns of soft-
tanned skins with short leggings and moc-
casins. The typical Apache headgear was
a kind of cap bearing painted designs, and
a few feathers, sometimes horns, sometimes
a crest suggesting that on the helmet of
certain ancient Roman soldiers; but the
war-bonnet, more or less of Plains type,
although found occasionally, was not
common.
The Navaho have long been famous for
their wonderful blankets, artistic in design
and color, made from the wool of their
own sheep, prepared and spun by them-
selves; from ravelings of bayeta, a cloth
obtained from traders, or from commercial
yarn, all woven on the rudest of home-
made looms. Besides these they weave
garters and sashes by similar methods,
which may be better understood by an
examination of the unfinished examples
displayed. They have also developed in
comparatively recent years an art of silver-
working, manufacturing bracelets, rings,
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
137
earrings, buttons, and belt ornaments,
all with the rudest and simplest of tools,
that is really remarkable. This industry
was derived from the Mexicans perhaps
not earlier than 1875. The Apache show
their artistic attainment in the manufacture
of baskets, in their painted designs on skin
garments and other objects, and in their
beadwork. The best of their basketry is
made in the coiled technique, and reaches
its height in the large vase-like storage
baskets; the designs are angular, and while
most are geometric in character, life-forms
frequently appear. In painting and bead-
work the Apache preferred fine lines and
intricate patterns to broad splashes of
color; sun-like and star-like patterns,
stepped figures, and triangles, are abundant
in their product, and very characteristic
is the use of lines of beadwork composed
of alternate bands of black and white, or
at least dark and light, beads.
A larger exhibit of Apache material may
be seen on the Second Floor.
Apache art
Basketry
124 C (top1)
126 A
(and top)
Painting
Beadwork
AND MONOGRAPHS
138
GUIDE
PUEBLO AREA
(Cases 127, 128, 129, 130, 136, 139, 140, 141,
142, 144 and drawers)
Unique among the American tribes
are the Pueblos of the semi-arid region of
New Mexico and northeastern Arizona,
the ruins of whose former settlements are
scattered not only throughout those states
but also over southern Colorado and Utah,
this vast region having been occupied from
prehistoric times. Traditions preserved by
surviving Indians of this group point to
the early migration of small bands from
various localities, their establishment of
villages in cliffs (the so-called cliff-dwell-
ings), on mesa-tops, and in valleys, where
they cultivated the soil, often by irrigation,
and hunted such game as the territory
afforded. Owing to lack of water, the
inroads of predatory tribes, or to other
causes, village after village was abandoned,
so that hundreds of ruins of these former
settlements are found throughout the
Pueblo region. (Objects illustrating the
culture of the ancient Pueblo peoples are
displayed on the Second Floor.) When
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
139
the Spaniards first explored the country
inhabited by these Indians in the first half
of the sixteenth century, they occupied
about seventy pueblos or villages, but at
Pueblo Area
the present time only twenty-eight remain.
Of these, two have been established re-
cently, while others are on the verge of
extinction. Perhaps only one of the pue-
AND MONOGRAPHS
140
GUIDE
bios (Acoma) occupies its sixteenth-cen-
tury site, owing chiefly to the efforts of
the Franciscan missionaries to consolidate
them for purposes of ministration, to the
necessity of concentration as a means of
defense against marauding tribes, and to
the conquest by the Spaniards following
the great revolt of 1680-92, at which
time the Tano pueblos were forever aban-
doned and their inhabitants absorbed by
other villagers.
The Pueblo Indians belong to the (1)
Tanoan, (2) Keresan, (3) Zunian, and
(4) Shoshonean linguistic stocks, consisting
of the following tribes or villages: (1)
Taos, Picuris, Sandia, and Isleta, of the
Tigua group; San Juan, Santa Clara, San
Ildefonso, Tesuque, Nambe, Pojoaque,
and Hano in Arizona, of the Tewa group;
Jemez of the Jemez-Pecos group. (2)
Cochiti, San Felipe, Santa Ana, Sia, Santo
Domingo, and Acoma and Laguna with
their subordinate villages. (3) Zufii, with
its three farming pueblos. (4) The Hopi
pueblos of Walpi, Sichomovi, Mishongnovi,
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
141
Shipaulovi, Shongopovi, Oraibi, Hotavila,
and Pakavi.
Casts of the heads of three Zimi men and
one woman, taken from life, are exhibited.
The term pueblo signifies "village,"
"town," "population," and was applied
by the early Spaniards to distinguish the
sedentary Indians and their permanent
settlements from the roving warlike tribes.
For purposes of defense the houses of the
Pueblo Indians were built one above another,
in great community clusters, the upper
ones set back from those beneath, in ter-
race form, so that the roof of one formed a
kind of front-yard of the house next above.
Not many years ago Zufii had six such tiers,
but the need of defense having passed,
the present tendency is to build single-
story dwellings away from the communal
group. Entrance to the lowest houses
and to some of the upper ones was gained
by means of hatchways in the roofs, reached
by ladders which could be pulled up at
night or when the enemy was sighted.
The houses were built usually of sandstone,
which, occurring often in thin layers, was
124 to 129
(top)
Houses
AND MONOGRAPHS
142
GUIDE
readily quarried. In some of the more
ancient pueblos attention was paid to
squaring and facing the component stones,
and even to giving the courses of masonry
an ornamental banded effect, but in later
times this was rarely done, the surface of
the masonry being hidden with adobe plas-
ter. Molded adobes were not used until
after the Spaniards arrived in the 16th
century, but a not uncommon practice
was to roll up balls or "loaves" of mud and
use them as stones are employed in house-
building. Remains of such rude adobe
bricks have been found in certain cliff-
dwellings. Owing to the lack of domestic
animals, excepting the dog, before the
Spanish advent, and the consequent diffi-
culties of transportation, the rooms in
ancient times were usually very small, as
it was necessary for the roof-beams to be
dragged or carried by men, sometimes from
long distances. Across the main-beams,
smaller ones were placed, and over these,
osiers, coarse grass, or bark; then a heavy
covering of earth and adobe mud. The
doorways were always very small, because
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
143
better defended, also for the reason that
small openings afforded greater protection
against cold, which is sometimes intense
in the high Pueblo country. The houses
were lighted by tiny windows glazed with
thin pieces of selenite, or crystalized gyp-
sum; at night the family fire afforded the
necessary illumination, first from a small
stone fire-box in the floor beneath the
hatchway, which was the exit for the smoke,
later from a corner fireplace provided with
a chimney surmounted with large pottery
vessels, one above the other, from which
the bottoms had been removed. The
latter form of fireplace, of Spanish intro-
duction, is now seen in practically every
Pueblo dwelling. The floors were either
of hard-plastered earth or were paved with
stone flagging. Usually in a small room
adjoining the living-room much of the cook-
ing was done, and especially the baking of
the corn wafer-bread on a large smooth slab
over a fire — a custom descended from per-
historic times. Certain kinds of cooking
were done outdoors in underground ovens,
Selenite
window
127C
Cooking-
slab
Wafer-bread
136
AND MONOGRAPHS
144
GUIDE
Agriculture
Religion
Masks
127 B
129 B
144 B
before the beehive-like oven was introduced
by the Spaniards.
The Pueblos are agriculturists, cultivat-
ing corn, squash, beans, and, by Spanish
introduction, wheat, cantaloupes, water-
melons, chile, onions, and other garden
vegetables, augmenting this food supply
with various wild products and by hunting
small game. Foods and their preparation,
and especially the cultivation and treat-
ment of corn, are too numerous to mention
here; but the foodstuff of the Zufii, which
differs in no essential particular from that
of the other Pueblo tribes, is described in
one of the Museum publications. The
Pueblos raise horses, asses, sheep, goats,
and a few cattle.
Being a sedentary people living in
permanent habitations, in a region of
limited rainfall, with a fairly abundant
food supply, and with long winters when
there was little else to do, they developed
an elaborate system of ceremonies, an
important object of which is the production
of rain. In many of their public perform-
ances, masks representing various powerful
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
145
mythic personages, and other ceremonial
paraphernalia, are worn. Noteworthy
among the masks are those of the Koye-
mashi, or "Mud-heads," an organization
of sacred clowns among the Zufii and (by
adoption) the Hopi, comparable with
the Koshare among some of the Rio Grande
villagers. So highly religious are the
Pueblos that in almost all of their under-
takings a ceremony of some kind is per-
formed. A common means of invoking
the beneficence of their deities is the de-
positing of plumed sticks in shrines or else-
where, accompanied with prescribed prayers
and the scattering of sacred ^meal. The
Zufii and the Hopi especially still preserve
numerous elaborate rites that have been
transmitted from ancient times, but among
most of the Pueblos of the Rio Grande
drainage many of their ceremonies have
become obsolete. Some of the headdresses
and tablets used in the recently-revived
Corn dance of the Zufii are exhibited, like-
wise a few of many masks worn in various
sacred performances at the same pueblo,
and some of the masks and tablets of the
Prayer-
sticks
129 AB
140 D
142
144 A
Tablets
Masks •
129 B
142
144
AND MONOGRAPHS
146
GUIDE
Kachinas
127 B
129B
142
Painted
robe
142
Sacred
bundles
132
Musical
instruments
127 B
129 B
139
140 D
Hopi. The Zufii and the Hopi also make
wooden figurines, masked, costumed, and
painted in representation of sacred person-
ages, or kachinas, which are given as dolls
to the children. Some of the kachinas of
the Hopi are painted on the ceremonial
robe of elk-skin exhibited, while sacred
bundles from Laguna and Santo Domingo,
and a prehistoric one probably of the ex-
tinct Piro, are likewise shown.
The dances are accompanied with songs,
and with instruments consisting of drums,
rattles, rasping-sticks or guayos, flutes and
whistles, depending on the kind of ceremony
performed. The rattles are made from
tortoise-shells, gourds, rawhide, the dew-
claws of deer, and cones of tin; while
jinglers of shells, doubtless employed
abundantly in early times, are still some-
times attached to certain dance parapher-
nalia. The characteristic drum was for-
merly a large earthenware jar with a head
of tanned deerskin (like the one on top of
Case 127), but this has long been replaced
by the barrel-like drum of wood with a
head of skin at each end. The typica]
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
147
Pueblo drumstick is a pliable wooden wand,
one end of which is bent to a circle and
lashed, the other end forming the handle.
Little hunting is now conducted by the
Pueblos, because of the scarcity of game
excepting in the mountains above Taos;
but communal rabbit hunts are still fairly
common, and are engaged in by many
men and boys who, mounted on horses,
surround the rabbits within a given area
and dispatch them with boomerang-like
clubs, an implement of Hopi origin. In
former times, when game was more abun-
dant, hunters employed various fetishes
representing prey beasts or birds (moun-
tain-lion, bear, badger, wolf, eagle, mole,
ground-owl, coyote) of the cardinal direc-
tions, which magically controlled the game,
and when a food animal was killed the
fetish was dipped in its heart's blood.
In former times, of course, hunting was
conducted with bows and arrows, but as
among all Indians these native implements
have given place to firearms, except for
casual hunting of rabbits and prairie-dogs,
which latter, however, are often drowned
Rabbit
clubs
129 A
140 D
Bows
Arrows
129A
AND MONOGRAPHS
148
GUIDE
Snowshoes
127 B
•War
implements
128A
129 A
out of their burrows by diverting storm-
water into them. Traps and snares were
often employed, but their use is now
practically confined to boys mainly for
the capture of small birds. For winter
hunting and for travel on other occasions
when the ground was covered with deep
snow, the Taos Indians used small snow-
shoes, a device doubtless derived from the
north. As there was a strong prejudice
against eating anything that lives in the
water, fishing was not practised. Boats
were unknown in this country of shallow
streams.
While not an aggressive people (the name
which the Hopi call themselves signifies
"peaceful people"), the Pueblos often gave
a good account of themselves in their for-
mer hostilities with the ever-predatory
Navaho and Apache, and, in the north,
with the Ute. Their weapons were bows
and arrows, and clubs; and as among va-
rious other tribes the shield, effectual more
through the belief that it possessed certain
magic power than from its material invul-
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
149
nerability, was commonly used by members
of the warrior societies.
The Pueblo women were, and still are,
skilled potters, their ceramic product con-
sisting chiefly of water-jars, food bowls,
cooking-pots, canteens, ladles, condiment
containers, and vessels for prayer-meal and
medicines used in ceremony. The process
of manufacture is illustrated by the series
displayed in Case 140. All the vessels
excepting the cooking-pots are usually
decorated by painting with geometric
or other devices, and especially in early
times zoomorphic figures were common in
some localities. Effigy vessels, particu-
larly bird-shape receptacles, are frequently
found. Indeed, from prehistoric times the
Pueblos have produced the best examples
of earthenware, in form, quality, and orna-
mentation, known to northern America.
While the Pueblos did not approach in
perfection the baskets manufactured by
the Indians of California and the North-
west coast, their textile work was note-
worthy; but little basketry is now mahu-
Pottery
127
129
140 A B
Basketry
127 AC
129 AC
AND MONOGRAPHS
150
GUIDE
Woven
garments
127 AC
129 AC
140 A B
(drawers)
factured excepting by the Hopi of the Middle
mesa and of Oraibi, whose plaques or trays
are so well known. The Zufii confine their
basket-making to a rather coarse tray-like
receptacle, used chiefly for containing dry
food. Burden-baskets and cradles of bas-
ketry were in common use at one time,
for the latter have been found in cliff-dwell-
ings. An example of each of these objects,
of modern Hopi production, is shown.
Mats woven of strips of yucca and used
under bedding, for serving food or for
placing various objects (such as prayer-
sticks in process of making) on the floor,
for covering hatchways in the roofs of
houses, and as a lining for graves, are practi-
cally a thing of the past.
Clothing was formerly made of tanned
skins and of cotton cloth, the Hopi es-
pecially having been noted cultivators and
weavers of cotton, and traders in cotton
garments; indeed the industry is not yet
extinct among them, but to a large extent
the native material has been superseded
by products of civilization except for cere-
monies, in which articles of aboriginal
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
151
manufacture are still commonly worn.
After the introduction of sheep by the Span-
iards, cotton was replaced by wool for
woven cloth to a large extent. In ancient
times feather garments were not uncommon,
and until recently robes made of strips
of rabbit-skin were frequently worn in
winter. Weaving of blankets, belts, hair-
ties, and garters of wool is still practised
by the Hopi and the Zufii; indeed there
seems to be no doubt that the Navaho,
who have become celebrated as blanket
makers, derived this art from Pueblo
women captured and adopted by them in
the early historic period. Leggings of
tanned deerskin, and moccasins of the
same material, with rawhide soles, are
still used by both sexes, but in all proba-
bility these will soon become obsolete.
The moccasins and leggings of Taos ex-
hibit the influence of their neighbors, the
Jicarilla Apache and the Ute. Heel-bands
ornamented with porcupine-quills are fre-
quently used with blue-painted moccasins
in ceremonies, and formerly similar orna-
ments embroidered in worsted or made of
Weaving
128 B
Moccasins
127 A B
129 A B
141 B
AND MONOGRAPHS
152
GUIDE
Ornaments
130 A
140 CD
Turquois
mosaic
HO CD
fringed and colored deerskin were worn by
Hopi dancers.
The ornaments of the Pueblos consist
chiefly of bead necklaces of seashell and
turquois worn by the men, and of silver
by the women; earrings or pendants of the
same materials, worn by men and women
respectively; and belts consisting of large
silver discs laced to a leather strap, like
those made by the Navaho, shown in Case
130 B, were used exclusively by the men.
Elaborate wrist-guards of silver on leather,
once used as a protection from the twang
of the bowstring, survive only as articles
of adornment in dances. Silver-working
was introduced among the Pueblos by the
Mexicans. Buttons of silver are employed
for fastening and ornamenting moccasins
and leggings; finger-rings, earrings, and
bracelets, of the same material, often
studded with turquois settings, are worn in
profusion by the women, especially on
gala occasions. Until recently pendants of
turquois mosaic on a base of wood were a
favorite means of decorating the ears of
women and girls among the Hopi and the
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
153
Zuni; and in prehistoric and early historic
times the Zuni women adorned their hair
with combs similarly made, examples of
which form a part of the Hawikuh collec-
tion on the Second Floor. In recent years
the Keres of the pueblo of Santo Domingo
have developed a considerable industry
in the manufacture of pendants of turquois
and jet mosaic on shell, virtually a sur-
vival of a custom practised throughout the
Pueblo region in prehistoric times.
Domestic appliances of the Pueblos,
aside from their earthenware utensils, are
numerous but simple. In a typical house,
especially of the more conservative Hopi
and Zuni, may be seen a grinding trough
with its metates of varying degrees of
coarseness, and a set of manos for grind-
ing corn or wheat to flour. A variety of
mortars and small pestles for crushing or
pounding chile and other foods; stools of
wood, sometimes with diminutive legs,
rudely fashioned from blocks of cotton-
wood; boxes for containing feathers until
required for use in ceremonies; stirring-
sticks used in cooking; digging-sticks for
Domestic
appliances
127-129
AND MONOGRAPHS
154
GUIDE
planting; brushes of grass, the butt-end
for the hair, the other for sweeping the
floor; dippers of gourd or wood (in early
times of pottery); cradle-boards of wood,
usually with a hood-frame; the loom for
blanket weaving and heddles for weaving
lesser articles of wear, with their appur-
tenant implements, similar to those of the
Navaho; and of course an array of earthen-
ware vessels of varying sizes and shapes, as
well as basket-trays. Hanging from wall-
pegs or from wooden rods are articles of
clothing of all kinds, as well as bedding,
horse-trappings, and the like. Ceremonial
objects, however, are hidden away in dark
rear rooms, until required for use in sacred
rites, in company with household and other
oddments long discarded.
The native objects, however, are being
gradually superseded by articles of civiliza-
tion. Indeed among some of the Pueblos
little of Indian origin remains, and even
among the more conservative Zufii and Hopi
the art of weaving is gradually becoming lost,
while less pottery is made than formerly,
except for commercial purposes.
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
155
WESTERN SUE -ARCTIC AKEA
(Cases 103, 135 and drawers, 136, 138 and
drawers, 141)
Occupying most of the vast territory
lying west of Hudson bay, south of the
Eskimo domain and reaching nearly to
the Pacific coast, are a number of tribes
so similar in mode of life, customs, and
manufactures, that they may be grouped
together. Their languages are also similar,
all belonging to what is known as the Atha-
pascan stock. Among the tribes of this
group may be mentioned the Loucheux,
the Chipewyan, the Sarsi, and the Kaw-
chodinne (a branch of the Slave Indians);
these have yielded the greater part of the
collection exhibited in these cases. There
are also a number of articles, obviously from
this district, whose exact tribe of origin is
unknown, hence they are designated simply
"Athapascan" on the labels.
Taken as a whole, these tribes show a
simplicity in their life and customs which
contrasts strongly with that of most of the
adjacent peoples; the life of the Eskimo,
Culture
AND MONOGRAPHS
156
GUIDE
for example, was rich by comparison
Their ceremonies were few and simple,
their tribal organization not clearly defined
While some tribes, like the Loucheux, were
Western Sub-Arctic Area
quite warlike, most of the northern Atha-
pascans have the name of being exceedingly
peaceable; in fact, one group was so humble,
and their tribesmen so often captured by
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
157
more warlike bands from the south, that
they have received the unenviable title of
"Slave Indians."
These Indians depended almost entirely
on game and fish for their food, and were
consequently more or less nomadic in their
habits. Caribou, moose, whitefish, and
salmon were the favorite sources of food
supply wherever obtainable. A frequent
method of taking caribou was to drive them
between the widespread wing fences of a
chute or pound forming the sides of an
angle at whose apex was a slaughter pen
into which the animals were finally driven.
The characteristic bow used in hunting is of
willow, about five feet long, of the double-
curve type, and a flattened oval in section.
The arrows are rather short (about 27
inches) , and are provided with three feathers,
and a long point, now made of metal, but
formerly of bone. Nets and spears were
used for fishing. For hunting in winter
the snowshoe was indispensable: in this
region it was usually long and narrow, with
a decidedly upturned rounded toe as shown
by the specimen at the left of the case.
Food
Hunting
Fishing
Bows
Arrows
103 A
Snowshoes
103 A B
AND MONOGRAPHS
158
GUIDE
Knives
103 A
Skinning
and Dress-
ing tools
103 A
Drinking
tubes
103 A
Drum
103 A
Games
The snowshoe on the right is a "trail shoe,"
similar but pointed in front.
A typical part of the equipment of the
hunter and warrior among the northwestern
bands of this region is the double-edged
knife of the peculiar form seen in the col-
lection. Such knives have been made for
many years by the Indians from old files
obtained from the whites, but in early days
knives were made of stone. An example
of a stone knife from these people is dis-
played, likewise other interesting survivals
of early implements in the form of bone
scrapers for dressing skins and a wedge-
like blade of stone for skinning animals.
The only objects among the collections
that illustrate the ceremonies of the people
are some drinking tubes of bone, used by
girls while undergoing ceremonial retire-
ment at the time of puberty, and a drum,
part of the paraphernalia of the medicine-
men. Games mainly took the form of
athletic contests, such as wrestling, but
the hand-game and cup-and-pin were
known in some parts of the region.
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
159
Characteristic of these people are their
netted bags, of which two examples are
exhibited, made of thin strips of caribou-skin
called babiche. These were used not only
as game bags, but also for storing and
transporting clothing and other articles.
In summer the birchbark canoe in several
forms was a favorite vehicle, the most
characteristic type being narrow, sharp
pointed, and decked fore and aft, like the
specimens exhibited. For heavier trans-
portation a larger boat covered with moose-
skin was found more serviceable; while in
districts without navigable waterways bur-
dens were strapped on the backs of dogs,
or were carried on the back of the traveler
himself. In winter goods were transported
on toboggans, often drawn by dogs.
In the northern part of the area the typi-
cal dwelling was a dome-shape tent of
skins, but rectangular shacks of poles
covered with bark were sometimes used
in summer, and served also as smoke-
houses for fish. In the southeastern part
a conical tipi or tent, covered usually with
bark, is found.
Netted
bags
103 B
Canoes
103 A
136 (top)
Toboggans
104 (top)
Houses
AND MONOGRAPHS
160
GUIDE
Household
articles
103 A
136
Pipes
Dress
103 AB
135 (draw-
ers)
141
Among household effects may be enum-
erated baskets of coiled weave, bowls and
buckets of birchbark, and dishes and ladles
of mountain-sheep horn and of wood, most
of which are represented in the collection.
Liquid foods were cooked in watertight
baskets and bark vessels by dropping in
heated stones.
No characteristic form of pipe seems to
have been developed by these Western
Sub-Arctic tribes; when they smoked at
all they appear to have copied the pipes
of their more advanced neighbors.
For men the characteristic costume was
a long shirt or tunic with its lower edge
extending into a tail or point in front and
in back, and usually made of caribou-skin;
this was worn over trousers of similar ma-
terial, the legs of which terminated in
moccasins with which they formed one
piece. The women wore a somewhat
similar but longer tunic, lacking one or
(like the specimen in Case 103 A) both
points, with trousers of skin resembling
those of the men, with the exception that,
of late years at least, the boots are separate.
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
161
This costume was worn among the more
northerly tribes, such as the Loucheux;
in the southern part of the district, like that
of the adjoining Cree, were worn garments
consisting of a relatively short shirt and
long leggings for the men, and a short
tunic, ' skirt, and short leggings for the
women. Throughout the district blankets
and extra, warm clothing for women and
children were woven out of rabbit-skins
cut into long strips and twisted into a kind
of coarse yarn. A child's woven rabbit-
skin suit is exhibited.
Infants were protected from the cold in
a kind of sack made originally of skin, but
of late years of cloth, as the specimen shows,
in which they lay, padded with a thick
layer of soft moss; the baby was carried on
the mother's back in a fold of her robe, where
it was supported by a broad, belt-like
band worn outside of the robe and tied in
front of her breast.
The esthetic attainment of these people
is exemplified chiefly by their porcupine-
quill work, especially their belts and orna-
ments woven of quills, which are unexcelled.
Infants'
clothing
103 B
Quillwork
Beadwork
103 B
135 CD
138 B
AND MONOGRAPHS
162
GUIDE
Choice specimens of this kind are displayed,
together with a belt decorated with bird-
quills, and some examples of their beadwork.
In early days, when they first obtained
glass beads from the whites, they used
large sizes, and the patterns were simple;
but more recently intricate floral patterns
showing strong European influence, intro-
duced from the Cree and Chippewa to the
south, have found wide favor with all the
northern Athapascan tribes and have even
spread from them to the coast tribes of
Alaska and British Columbia.
EASTERN SUB-ARCTIC AREA
(Cases 104 A, 138 AB drawers)
The great peninsula of Labrador, ly-
ing east of Hudson bay, forms, with the
exception of the coast districts occupied
by Eskimo bands and the addition of part
of Quebec to the south, the domain of a
second group of Sub-Arctic Indian tribes
whose manner of living reminds one strongly
of the northern Athapascan peoples before
described, whose range lies westward of
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
163
Hudson bay. These tribes east of the bay,
however, are very different in language,
all speaking dialects of the Algonkian
stock. The more northerly bands are
Eastern Sub-Arctic Area
usually grouped under the head of Nas-
capee; the more southerly are known as
Montagnais, both of which are well repre-
sented in the collections exhibited. Also
are shown a few specimens from the neigh -
AND MONOGRAPHS
164
GUIDE
Culture
Hunting
'boring Mistassini and Tetes de Boule,
whose customs and products were similar.
As with the Indians of the Western Sub-
Arctic area, simplicity of life and customs
was very noticeable among these people; re-
ligion, ceremonies, and tribal organization
were in an undeveloped state; and the mar-
tial spirit was so little developed that the
tribes have acquired a reputation for
timidity. In fact, it is thought that they
were driven into their present territory
from a much more favorable country farther
south by the repeated attacks of the
Iroquois.
The Eastern Sub-Arctic Indians, like those
of the west, were more or less nomadic,
being dependent on hunting and fishing for
a living, and the caribou was their main
support. Several methods were used in
hunting caribou: they were taken in snares
or shot from ambush while passing through
narrow denies, were speared while swimming
across rivers and lakes by hunters in canoes,
and in winter were driven into snowbanks
where the deer floundered helplessly, but
where the hunters, wearing snowshoes,
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
165
could approach and shoot them without
difficulty.
The bow used in hunting was of spruce
or larch wood and measured 4 feet to 6 feet
long, with a width in the middle of about
an inch and a half and a thickness of about
an inch; it was more or less rounded at the
belly, the back being left flat. The arrows
were from 24 to 30 inches long, with flat nock,
and when used for birds or small game,
terminated in a knob, in which a bone
point might or might not be set. Arrows
from this region may be provided with
three short ptarmigan feathers, and in
old days arrows without knobs, but armed
with substantial bone points, were used
in bringing down large game. The cari-
bou-spear used by these Indians has a wood-
en shaft about 6 feet long, with a head,
originally of bone or antler, but latterly of
steel, about a foot in length. Spears also
were used, together with hooks made
wholly or partly of bone, and nets made of
caribou-skin thongs, in catching salmon and
other food fish, while a "toggle-head"
Hunting
implements
104 A
138 D
Fishing
implements
104 A
138 D
AND MONOGRAPHS
166
GUIDE
Snowshoes
104 A
Canoes
132 (top)
Toboggan
104 (top)
harpoon resembling that used by the Es-
kimo is reported from the district.
The snowshoes used in this region are of
several types, but all are flat; little, if
any, uptilt at the toe may be seen upon
them, and all are broad in proportion to
their length.
Two types of birch canoe are on record
from the region: one, a specimen of which
is exhibited, resembles the patterns used
by the Indians of Maine, while the other
has more "sheer"; that is, the ends are
raised higher, somewhat in the manner of
the Chippewa canoes farther west. In
winter the toboggan was the principal
means of transportation, but such sleds
were pulled by the travelers themselves,
as these people, unlike the Eskimo and some
Northwestern Indians, had made but little
progress in developing the dog as a draft
animal.
Unlike most tribes so far east, the Eastern
Sub-Arctic bands used the conical tent
or tipi made of skin, which was their only
dwelling, summer and winter. Their beds
were the skins of animals and blankets
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR.
167
woven of rabbit-skins laid on a thick soft
carpet of spruce-boughs spread upon the
ground. Household utensils, of which a
fair collection is displayed, consisted of
bowls, ladles, and round or oval boxes,
usually made of spruce, together with
bowls, boxes, and buckets or kettles neatly
and strongly constructed of spruce-bark,
or, in the southern part of the district, of
birchbark. So far as known, no pottery
was manufactured in this region, hence,
before the whites introduced metal kettles
it was necessary to boil liquid foods in water-
tight bark or wooden vessels by dropping
in hot stones. The only stone implement
employed in late years has been the cyl-
indrical pestle for pounding dry caribou
meat to make pemmican. Bone imple-
ments, like those made in prehistoric
times, are still used, however — awls for
sewing, needles for making snowshoe web-
bing, and scrapers of different kinds for
dressing skins.
The Nascapee to the north do not seem
to have had the cradle-board, but their
relatives to the south, the Montagnais,
Utensils
and tools
103 (top)
138 CD
Cradle-
boards
AND MONOGRAPHS
168
GUIDE
Pipes
Games
Dress
104 A
made a type with head protector and
movable foot-board almost identical with
the pattern used by the Chippewa to the
southwest, and the Penobscot and adjoin-
ing tribes to the southeast.
A special type of smoking pipe has been
developed in this and the adjoining dis-
tricts, consisting of a graceful cup-like bowl
with a ridge or keel beneath, used with a
short stem of wood. A thong of deerskin,
often decorated with beads, passed through
a hole in the keel and was tied to the stem
to prevent its loss!
These Indians amused themselves with
archery contests, tossing and catching a
ball, juggling three balls at once, and using
two forms of the cup-and-pin game; but
such amusements did not reach the develop-
ment here that may be observed among the
tribes farther south.
The characteristic man's costume of this
region is represented in the exhibit by two
handsomely painted long coats of caribou-
skin; one, used in summer, tanned without
the hair, and open in front; the other, worn
in winter, was closed in front, and might
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
169
better be called a long shirt or tunic. This
was made with the hair left on and turned
inward. Such garments were worn with
short trousers or trunks made of caribou-
skin, below which leggings of similar
material, or in late years of cloth, extended
to the moccasin-clad feet. In winter the
women wore a sleeveless gown of caribou-
skin reaching a little below the knees,
covering their arms with sleeves put on
separately, and their legs with leggings
resembling those of the men, while for
additional warmth a heavy caribou-skin
robe with the hair on served as an outer
wrap. Of their ancient summer costume
our knowledge is incomplete, but we know
that a highly decorated skirt of deerskin,
and leggings and moccasins, formed part
of it.
It was in the decoration of their garments,
especially those intended for summer wear,
that the artistic feeling of these Indians
found its best expression, and the results
were really attractive, as an examination
of the neatly painted garments will show.
This art is now apparently retained only
Decorative
art
104 A
AND MONOGRAPHS
170
GUIDE
Birchbark
utensils
103 (top)
138 C
Beadwork
104 A
by the Nascapee in the north, the Mon-
tagnais having apparently lost it. The
latter now give expression to their esthetic
ability only in the decoration of their
birchbark utensils, examples of which are
exhibited. The designs are produced by
scraping away the dark surface on the bark
in such manner as to leave the patterns
prominent, the natural color of the bark show-
ing in relief against a lighter background.
Beadwork has not become highly developed
here, the most ornate examples displayed
having come from the adjoining Mistassini
and Tetes de Boule, whose intricate floral
designs have plainly been derived from the
Cree or the Chippewa, farther west.
NORTHEASTERN WOODLAND
AREA
(Cases 104 B, 105 A, 135 drawers, 138 A, 141)
A group of tribes similar in many respects
to the Eastern Sub-Arctic peoples, just
described, once occupied the territory now
lying within the states of Maine, New
Hampshire, and Vermont, and the adjoining
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
171
parts of Canada northward to the St.
Lawrence river and gulf, a group here
designated as the Indians of the North-
eastern Woodland Area. The principal
IT
Northeastern Woodland Area
surviving tribes, all of which have furnished
specimens for the collection, are the Ab-
naki, Micmac, Malecite, Passamaquoddy,
and Penobscot. All speak Algonkian
languages.
AND MONOGRAPHS
172
GUIDE
Culture
Hunting
Fishing
105 A
Although dependent mainly on hunting
and fishing for their living, as did the pre-
ceding group, it can hardly be said that
simplicity was so marked a feature of their
life, for ceremonies here begin to become
more numerous and complex; the tribal
organization is more definite, and the
people show more of the warlike independent
spirit lacking in so many tribes of the Far
North.
The food-supply was here more varied
and continuous, but the large herds of
caribou, mainstay of the Sub-Arctic Indian,
did not appear. The bow in use in this
district was four or five feet long, rather
slender, with distinctly flat back and
rounded belly. The arrows were 23 to 27
inches long, with nock slightly indented
at the sides, and with three feathers; in
recent years they have been made for
the greater part with a knob at the tip
for stunning small game. In former times
knobless arrows with points of metal, and
still earlier of stone or bone, were employed
in hunting and in war. In fishing, nets,
hooks and lines, and a three-prong spear
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
173
were employed. A weapon especially
made for war, found useful in hand-to-
hand combat, was the club with globular
head, carved from one piece of hard wood.
As in regions hitherto mentioned, snow-
shoes were a necessity in winter travel; the
favorite type was flat like that of the
Eastern Sub-Arctic region, but the form
was longer in proportion to its width, as
may be seen from the specimen shown.
A handsomely decorated birchbark canoe
from this region may be seen; the shape is
typical, and with slight variations to make
the craft better adapted to the place of
its use, whether on rivers, lakes, or the sea,
was common to all the tribes mentioned.
It is interesting to note that the whites
have modeled the commercial canvas and
cedar canoes in common use on this type
of aboriginal vessel. Another type of
canoe was made for temporary service
when the hunter found himself without
other means of transportation far up some
river with his stock of furs and dried meat
when the ice broke up in the spring; this
was by forming a rough frame of poles and
Warclub
105 A
Snowshoes
105 A
Canoe
141 (top)
AND MONOGRAPHS
174
GUIDE
Toboggans
105 (top)
Burden-
baskets
105 A
Houses
covering it with green moose-skins well
tallowed ' at the joints, and in this rude
craft he floated down the stream to his
village with the product of his winter's
toil.
In winter the toboggan, pulled by man
power (or woman power) was the principal
vehicle for moving goods on the woodland
trails; but on the river ice a. sledge resem-
bling the types used bv the Eskimo was
easier to pull.
Burden-baskets of birchbark and of
splints for carrying goods on the back with
the aid of a woven strap, or tumpline,
passed across the breast or the forehead,
are a feature of the collection from this
region.
Among this group of tribes we begin .to
find a variety of house types in addition
to the widespread conical tipi covered
with bark and sometimes with skins or
mats. An early traveler among the Mic-
mac, for example, reported that "in summer
the shape of their houses is changed; for
they are broad and long that they may
have more air," and old Penobscot report
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
175
a square form of wigwam with low log walls
and pyramidal roof of poles and birch-
bark, and a long rectangular building
of similar construction with a narrow smoke-
hole along the ridge-pole the entire length
of the building. Wigwams with log walls
were banked in winter with leaves, moss,
and sods, for greater warmth.
The bedding here, as in the Eastern Sub-
Arctic area, consisted of spruce-boughs,
carefully laid on the ground so as to form a
thick, soft carpet, upon which were spread
the skins of animals. It is probable that
matting made of rushes, unknown farther
north, but very common to the south of
this district, was also used as bedding.
House furnishings appear in greater
variety, too; the bent- wood and birchbark
boxes, bowls; and kettles are still present
in great variety, together with wooden
bowls and spoons; but in addition are found
here, for the first time, baskets made of
wooden splints so widely distributed farther
south, and bags and burden-straps woven
out of various fibers. Pottery has been
found in ancient shellheaps in Maine, but
Bedding
Domestic
appliances
104 B
105 A
AND MONOGRAPHS
176
GUIDE
Pipes
105 A
Games
105 A
it is not certain that it was used by the
tribes mentioned as of this group. There
is no doubt, however, that they did use
their watertight wooden and bark vessels
for boiling liquid foods by dropping in
hot stones, and introduced an interesting
variation in this time-honored method by
suspending the birchbark kettles over a
bed of glowing coals after the hot stones
had caused the water to reach the boiling
point.
The smoking pipe of the Northeastern
Woodland is the same as that described for
the Eastern Sub-Arctic region — a graceful
cup-shape bowl surmounting a kind of
ridge or keel, all carved from one piece of
stone and used with a short wooden stem.
This is often known as the "Micmac"
type of pipe, and is thought to have origi-
nated in this district.
The most popular game is played with
circular dice made of bone, tossed in a
shallow wooden dish; but a number of
forms of the cup-and-pin game are found,
and such toys as dolls and tops.
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
177
The Museum possesses no skin costumes
from any of these tribes, but a glance at
the long beaded cloth coat and the cloth
leggings reveals their strong similarity to
the skin coat and skin leggings of the Eastern
Sub-Arctic area in both form and design.
It is therefore quite likely that the North-
eastern Woodland Indians in former times
used deerskin costumes very much like
those recently worn by the Nascapee, before
described, and later copied the form of
these skin costumes in cloth, and their
painted decoration in beadwork, using the
same kind of conventional curved designs.
A cradle-board similar to that used by
the Montagnais, but more ornate, is typical
of this people. The particularly good ex-
ample shown lacks only the bow that pro-
tected the child's face in case of a fall.
Their artistic sense is manifested also in
their beadwork, the older curved patterns
of which are derived from earlier painted
designs. The collection also shows some
examples of realistic flower patterns, which
are evidently of modern origin, in spite of
the fact that the old painted figures, con-
Dress
104 B
141
Cradle-
board
104 B
Beadwork
104 B
AND MONOGRAPHS
178
GUIDE
Wooden
and birch-
bark boxes
104 B
Wampum
Silverwork
Ribbon
applique
104 B
Quillwork
135
138 A
sisting largely of curved lines, are probably
conventional plant forms. Archaic curved
patterns may also be seen on the wooden and
birchbark boxes, and it is evident that
among these tribes the surface of the bark
is scraped away to form the pattern in a
lighter color, leaving the background the
natural dark shade, which is just the
reverse of the process used by the Eastern
Sub-Arctic tribes, before described.
It is interesting to note that the use of
wampum in ceremonies and for personal
adornment appears here, as well as the
use of silver brooches and ribbonwork
applique in the decoration of women's
costumes, both the latter developed since
the coming of the whites, and very popular
among many tribes south and west of this
district.
One section of a nearby table case is
devoted to a collection of birchbark boxes
decorated with porcupine-quills from the
Micmac, the most northerly tribe of the
group, who carried this art to a high stage
of perfection, the striking patterns and
soft old colors making the work especially
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
179
attractive. Today gaudy aniline dyes are
used, consequently the art is disappearing.
SPECIAL EXHIBITS
(Cases 130, 131, 132, 134, 135 and drawers,
136, 137, 139, 141)
In the center of the hall are cases con-
taining a number of special exhibits, of
which the Manhattan Indian group (134)
occupies a prominent place in front of the
main entrance. To the east of this is a
case (132) in which are displayed a number
of sacred bundles and other ceremonial
articles; two sections of silverwork and a
section of native beads are exhibited in
Case 130, while a remarkable series of belts
and other objects of wampum are shown in
case 131. To the west is a case (136) of
utensils for securing, preparing, and serving
food, with some samples of the foods them-
selves; a case of musical instruments (139);
a wall case of footgear (141) ; two sections
containing scalps and hunting charms
(137); and two sections exhibiting quill-
work and beadwork, with the processes of
manufacture (135).
AND MONOGRAPHS
180
GUIDE
Manhattan Model
(Case 134)
This model is designed to represent a part
of the Indian village which once stood at
Cold Spring, Inwood, on Spuyten Duyvil
creek, at the northern end of Manhattan
Island, as it may have looked about the
time Henry Hudson discovered the great
river that bears his name. The site is
marked by extensive deposits of decaying
oyster-shells, the remains of ancient feasts,
from which have been dug many relics of
the aborigines.
The forms of the bark-covered wigwams
and the costume of the natives are taken
from descriptions written by some of the
early Dutch and English travelers in this
region; while the pottery, baskets, and tools
represent specimens dug up at the site,
from articles still or recently used by de-
scendants of the Lenape or Delaware tribe,
to which the Manhattan Indians were
closely related, and from early accounts.
The larger of the two wigwams seems
to have been the most common pattern
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
181
about New York. It was built of a frame
of poles lashed together and covered with
elm-bark, with an opening left in the top
for the escape of smoke. It usually con-
tained no partitions, but often housed
several families, each with its own fire-
place and sleeping places. The doorway
was closed with a rush mat. Outside
may be seen the raised scaffold or larder
where food was kept out of reach of dogs,
such food as the pieces of meat and the pot
of stew now resting upon it. Nearby is a
basket filled with oysters, and on or near
the end of the wigwam a fish-net, and a
fish-trap of basketry. The cave at the
foot of the bluff and the two rock-shelters
high up in its face still exist, and still yield
occasional relics to the investigator.
One of the men is represented as shaping
a dugout canoe from a log with a stone-
bladed adze aided with fire, first burning,
then chopping, and repeating the process.
A second warrior is engaged in sewing
sheets of bark to the frame of a dome-shape
wigwam, another type of dwelling once
popular in this vicinity, and sometimes
AND MONOGRAPHS
182
GUIDE
thatehed with grass; his bone awl for punch-
ing holes in the bark and his strips of bass-
wood-bark for sewing lie on the framework
to his left, while near him may be seen
his stone-headed axe of the celt type, his
flint knife, a hammerstone, and an antler
wedge for splitting the poles with which
he is reinforcing the bark on the outside.
Near the top of the model a third man is
seen, bow in hand and quiver on back,
bound for the hunt; his little boy is scram-
bling up the rocks below him. Still another
man is seen emerging from the cave, armed
with an axe of the grooved type usually
employed for breaking up firewood and
for other domestic purposes.
One woman is hanging strips of fresh
meat on a rack to dry; another is pounding
corn into meal in a wooden mortar with a
stone pestle; a third is transporting a basket
of fish with the aid of a little boy, and at
the same time is carrying her baby on her
back, strapped fast to its cradle-board.
Another woman may be seen dimly inside
the doorway of the large wigwam, a woman
and a child in one of the rock-shelters,
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
183
while a child is playing with a dog at the
foot of the bluff.
The deerskin breechcloths and leggings
of the men, their style of hair-dressing,
their collars of deer-hair dyed red, the short
skirts and shawls of the women, the moccasins
worn by both sexes, the belts decorated
with wampum, and the wampum necklaces
and ornaments, are all shown in consid-
erable detail, as are the rush mats, earthen-
ware pots, and the like.
Back of the model is displayed a col-
lection of relics for the greater part found
on Manhattan Island — many of them on
the site of the very village whose restora-
tion is shown by the model. They con-
sist mainly of arrowpoints, axe-heads, and
other implements of stone, a variety of
awls and other tools of bone, a selection of
animal-bones and shells from the old ref-
use-heaps showing the species used by the
Indians as food, and a number of fragments
of their pottery. Attention is especially
called to the nearly complete vessel at the
top of the pyramid, which, although un-
earthed at 231st street and Broadway, is
AND MONOGRAPHS
184
GUIDE
clearly of Iroquois pattern and possibly
was made in the vicinity of Albany. The
tubular pipe of steatite and the little stone
amulet bearing a carved face, both found
at the site of the Cold Spring village, are
rare specimens for this locality and are
worthy of special notice.
Sacred Bundles
(Case 132)
Among many Indian tribes, when a boy
found himself approaching manhood he
made his way to the wildest and loneliest
place he could find, and there fasted and
prayed in the hope that the mysterious
powers would take pity on him and enable
him to experience a vision which would
make known to him a guardian spirit who
would be his dependence through life.
In his weakened state he might actually
have a dream or a vision, and might see in
it some animal, or one. of the personified
powers of nature, such as the sun, the
thunder, or one of the four winds. At this
time, or later, in another dream, this
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
185
guardian might instruct the young man to
prepare a bundle containing a variety of
objects, each with its own symbolic mean-
ing, which was supposed to bring to him,
or to his people as a whole, good fortune,
either in general or in some specific way,
as in the case of a war-bundle. Such is
the traditional origin of most sacred bundles.
As to the meaning of the contents, we
may take, for example, a typical war-bun-
dle of the Central Algonkian or Southern
Siouan tribes, which usually contains
amulets, medicines, and musical instru-
ments. The amulets, fastened to the
warrior's body in battle, are usually parts
of strong, fierce, or swift wild creatures whose
desirable qualities are thought to be magi-
cally transmitted to the wearer. Thus the
tail of a buffalo was supposed to impart
strength to the wearer; the skin of a hawk,
the power of fierce attack; while a swallow's
skin made the warrior swift to move and
to dodge arrows and bullets. In some
bundles a miniature warclub symbolized
the lightning, the crushing weapon of the
thunder-beings, and worn by a warrior
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enabled him to partake of the thunder's
awful power; while a stone ball, also sym-
bolizing a thunderbolt, was sometimes
carried in the bundle, but not worn. An-
other form of sympathetic magic may be
seen in the decorated rope, or captive-
tier, whose very presence in the bundle
was thought to bring about the taking of
prisoners; and a similar idea is seen in the
human figure made of deerskin found in
an Oto bundle on exhibition, representing
an enemy in the power of the bundle owner.
Besides such objects there are usually
in the bundle "medicines" to be chewed
and rubbed over the body, magically to
turn aside arrows and bullets; others for
healing wounds, should any be received
in spite of the magic; still others for pro-
tecting the owner from the evil effects of
his own enchantments.
Other sacred bundles exhibited contain
the paraphernalia, charms, and herbs
forming the equipment of the shaman
or medicine-man, and still another the ob-
jects used in the tattooing ceremony,
which was a sacred rite among the Osage.
INDIAN NOTES
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187
Bundles to give good luck in love, in hunt-
ing, in gambling, in raising horses, and in
trading, are known to exist.
SlLVERWORK
(Case 130)
After contact with Europeans, from
whom silver coins were obtained, the art
of making ornaments of silver seems to
have sprung up in several regions, result-
ing in several distinct types of work which
may still be recognized. Only one of these
types, the Southeastern, seems to have any
direct connection with the prehistoric art
of pounding and embossing copper, but
in this case the silver products of the Choc-
taw, Seminole, and Alibamu resemble too
closely some of the ancient copper orna-
ments for the correspondence to be acci-
dental. The Iroquois type of silverwork,
characterized by the great variety of forms
made, especially brooches for decorating
women's dresses, and the excellence of the
workmanship, seems to be based mainly
on European styles of ornaments modified
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to meet native ideas. The brooches, for
example, found their prototypes in Scot-
land. The Algonkian type of silverwork,
made by most tribes of this stock east of the
Mississippi, except the more northerly,
and by Southern Siouan tribes and some
adjoining peoples, is characterized by a
paucity of form (the brooches, for example,
being mainly circular) and by a tendency
to employ german-silver instead of the
genuine metal. In the products of some
of these tribes, especially the Delawares
and the Shawnee, considerable Iroquois
influence is seen. Very different from any
of the preceding is the modern silverwork
of the Navaho and of neighboring tribes of
the Southwest, which is characterized by
a kind of massiveness and by a barbaric
but effective richness of design not seen
elsewhere.
The more northerly Indian tribes of the
Northwest coast also developed a charac-
teristic style of silverwork, marked by the
use of finely engraved totemic patterns.
These are not represented in the collection
under discussion, but may be found in the
INDIAN NOTES
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189
Northwest Coast exhibit in the West Hall
of the Second Floor.
Native Beads
(Case 130;
That the use of beads as ornaments and
probably as charms was well established
among the prehistoric peoples of the Ameri-
can continents is evidenced by the vast
quantities of such objects that have been
brought to light by archeological explora-
tion. Many kinds of stone, shell, bone,
ivory, metals, clay, and vegetal material
were used in the manufacture of beads;
while concretions and parts of fossils,
some with natural perforations, have been
found showing positive signs of use. Of the
numerous kinds of materials used, shell
seems to have been the favorite.
A very common form of shell bead, and
one easy to manufacture, is that made by
grinding or breaking off the apex of an
olivella or similar small univalve shell.
On the other hand, a difficult bead to make
is that in which the columella of the conch
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has been broken away from the rest of the
shell, pierced lengthwise, and often smoothed
and polished. Some of the latter kind have
been found which measure six or eight inches
in length and a quarter of an inch in diam-
eter. The kind of tools used in drilling such
long perforations of small caliber is not
known. Other beads were made from flat
pieces of shell ground into discs and drilled
from face to face or from edge to edge.
A set of implements used by the Zufii
for making disc-beads is exhibited, their
method being first to break the shell or
turquois into pieces of the necessary size,
which are drilled and strung tightly together.
The edges are then ground smooth and
round on a grit-stone, kept constantly wet,
with the aid of a grooved wooden holder.
Quantities of drilled freshwater and
marine pearls have been found.
An important form of shell bead is that
known as wampum, a small cylindrical
type made in purple and white, some ex-
amples of which are exhibited in Case 130,
while the main collection, to be referred
to later, is displayed in an adjacent case.
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
191
Many of the stone beads are rough
pebbles which have been perforated; others
have been shaped and polished, and some-
times decorated with symbolic carvings.
Some remarkable examples of fine workman-
ship are shown among the quantities of
turquois beads found in ruined pueblos of
the Southwest, exhibited on the Second
Floor. These beads are discoidal, and
some measure no more than a thirty-second
of an inch in diameter. Bone has proved
adaptable for bead-making, especially bird-
bones, short sections of which were cut off
and the edges usually smoothed. Others
have been made from heavier and more
solid bone or ivory, and in some cases were
ornamented with etchings. Specimens in
gold, silver, and copper haye frequently
occurred, those of gold and silver mainly
in Mexico, Central America, and South
America. Clay beads have been found,
worthy of note among which are some from
Yucatan which, instead of being perforated,
are grooved lengthwise on the sides for
the accommodation of the thread. Many
varieties of seeds have been used in a great
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assortment of shapes and colors. A pleas-
ing bead from British Guiana is of woven
basketry.
Wampum
(Cases 130A, 131 C D)
The term wampum is applied to the
small, cylindrical shell beads which were
used so extensively by the eastern Indians
during the colonization period. The name
is the contraction of New England Algon-
kian wampumpeak, wampumpeage, or wam-
pompeag. As the native expression was too
cumbersome for ready utterance by the
New England colonists, the sentence-word
was divided by them into wampum, and
peak or peague, and is thus mentioned in
many of the early treaties and records.
The shells generally used in the manufac-
ture of this type of wampum are the qua-
hog, or hard-clam shell, which furnished
the tinted or purple material, and the core
of the conch-shell from which the white
wampum was made. Although wampum
was used as a medium of exchange, it is
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
193
today principally known through the strings,
necklaces, and belts that are preserved
in museums.
The wampum strings served as message-
bearers to tribal members or to distant
tribes. By means of certain combinations
of color, the significance of which was
generally known, a definitely worded notice
could thus be expressed. For instance,
a string of dark beads was the official noti-
fication of the death of a chief which was
sent by one of the Iroquois tribes to its
related tribes. In the main exhibit may be
seen a death notice consisting of a stick to
which is attached the mourning wampum;
another is a notification and invitation by
one band to another to send delegates to
attend certain ceremonies; a third was
used at the abrogation of a chieftainship;
in fact, the uses of wampum were many and
varied, and in the form of strings, aside
from their use as necklaces, pendants, and
wristlets, played an active part in cere-
monial life.
Belts were made of wampum beads by
proportionately arranging them on strings
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and adjusting them on cross-strands of
sinew or skin, and thus by skilful weaving
were fashioned into fabrics for use either
in a utilitarian way or in ceremonial ob-
servances. Designs in the shape of ani-
mate objects or in geometric figures were
employed according to the .purpose of the
belt or the occasion that it was to commem-
orate. These figures were generally formed
of the white beads, accentuated by the
darker background. Belts were used as
aids to the memory, certain addresses or
details connected with a given ceremony
being associated with parts of the design
on a belt, and thus readily recalled when
occasion required. Belts were used by
the Indians in the ratification of treaties,
and in many other ways connected with
their alliances and their dealings with
other tribes or with the colonists.
Two of the belts displayed are of great
historic interest by reason of their asso-
ciation, for the records show that they
were presented to William Penn by the
Delaware Indians in confirmation of the
treaty of friendship between the great
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
195
Quaker colonizer and the Indians. Origi-
nally there were three such belts, but one,
confirming the treaty of Shackamaxon, Pa.j
in 1682, was given to the Historical Society
of Pennsylvania. Interesting in connection
with these belts is displayed another, also
known as a Penn belt, as it was given by
Penn to the assembled chiefs on the occasion
of the treaty mentioned. It was customary
for each side to present a belt or belts.
One writer states that the " Indians said
that they often assembled in the woods
and spread out a blanket, on which they
laid all the words of Penn, that they might
go over them and refresh their memories.
By this they meant that they laid on the
blankets the belts of wampum, each of which
represented a clause of the promises or
treaty."
Worthy also of particular notice is a
belt bearing the date 1756, representing
Governor Denny and an Indian, when
Denny invited all of the Indians to come
from the Ohio to Philadelphia, saying,
"I have laid out a nice smooth road for you
and want all to come who can." This is a
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Delaware belt, and there is another from
the same tribe which is an insignia of office.
Among those from the Iroquois is a boundary
belt, a condolence belt, a friendship belt,
and one that was owned by Red Jacket,
the noted Seneca chief. The Hurons are
represented by a peace-treaty belt, and
one from the Chippewa commemorates a
visit to King George III in 1807. A very
unusual specimen, made entirely of black
and white glass beads, was taken from an
Indian in personal combat by General
Bellows of New Hampshire during the
Revolution. All of the belts are interest-
ing, and it is unfortunate that more con-
cerning their history is not known. The
labels present such records as have sur-
vived, as well as data respecting the uses
to which the belts were put.
The wampum collars or necklaces are
generally similar to the belts in technique;
those of the Penobscot, being the most
decorative and having a diagonal weave,
are easily recognized. These ornaments
were worn by men, women, and children.
INDIAN NOTES
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197
Wampum beads were also fashioned into
fabrics of keystone shape, but few of these
are known. They have been called "hair
ornaments," but in certain regions they
were certainly used as arm-bands, as is
shown by one figured by Lafitau in 1724
and called by him a "brasselet de porce-
laine travaille en petits cylinders." The
specimen displayed is similar in form to
the one represented in Lafitau's illustra-
tion and is a good example of this particu-
lar style of wampum-work.
Food and its Preparation
(Case 136)
An entire case is devoted to the illus
tration of types of utensils used by the
American tribes in gathering, preparing,
and serving their food, together with a few
samples of the foods themselves. Among
the utensils burden-baskets are employed
in gathering corn, roots, seeds, and berries;
wicker beaters for threshing edible seeds
from standing plants; mortars and pestles
of wood and stone, and metates or mealing-
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stones with their accompanying manos,
for crushing and grinding various food
products, especially corn and wheat.
To illustrate the cooking of food, pots
made of earthenware and of stone which
were set directly over the fire, are exhibited,
and various watertight basketry and wooden
receptacles in which liquid food was boiled
by dropping heated stones into it, removing
them as . they cooled, and replacing them
with other hot stones, until the cooking
was finished. Paddles of wood for stirring
food while boiling are also shown.
For serving food there are bowls of
various forms and materials, including wood,
pottery, bark, and horn, while for eating
it there was a variety of spoons and ladles
made of the same materials and of gourds.
In the collection of foods, which is far
from complete, may be seen a number of
substances not utilized by the whites, es-
pecially acorns, seaweed, roots, the seeds
of many wild plants, and the fruits and other
portions of various cacti. Of especial in-
terest also is a palatable corn-food unknown
to white bakers— the delicate wafer-bread
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
199
of many colors made from corn-flour by
some of the Pueblo tribes.
Musical Instruments
(Case 139)
Most of the so-called musical instru-
ments of the American Indians are merely
drums, rattles, and similar devices used
as accompaniments to singing, to accentuate
the rhythm; but there was one true instru-
ment on which tunes could be played — the
flageolet, usually called a "flute." This
appears in several forms, and there are
many whistles that sound only one or two
notes. Several fiddles of Indian manu-
facture figure in the collection, but the
conception is not native, being derived
from the European violin.
The drums exhibited fall into several
classes, including the Aztec hollow-log
type, the Delaware ceremonial "drum"
consisting merely of a rolled dry deerskin,
the single-head hoop or tamborine pattern,
the double-head form suggesting our mod-
ern snare-drum, and the water-drum, which
consists of a receptacle containing a little
AND MONOGRAPHS
200
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water "to improve the sound," over the
mouth of which a skin head is tightly
stretched.
Rattles may be divided into two chief
classes: one, the kinds that are shaken in
the hand in time to the music; and the
other, the sorts that are attached to the
body and rattled with every movement.
In the first group are found rattles of
gourd, pottery, wood, rawhide, turtleshell,
the shells of molluscs, puffin-beaks, deer-
hoofs, metal jinglers, and an arrangement
of metal discs on a frame, suggesting the
old Egyptian sistrum; in the second group
the materials are deer-hoofs, turtleshells,
and, curiously enough, cocoons.
Other instruments resembling rattles
are the notched sticks and gourds known
as guayos, upon which a small stick is rubbed
to make a purring sound in time to singing,
as well as various slappers, and the like.
This display of musical instruments is
designed to exhibit only the principal types.
Others will be found among the objects
illustrating the general cultures of the various
Indian groups.
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
201
Footgear
(Case 141)
That the footgear used by the American
Indians north of Mexico differed greatly
according to region and to tribe may be
seen from the 46 types in the one exhibit,
which by no means exhaust the known
local variations; but further study shows
that for the greater part these may be
assembled into the six principal patterns
which are enumerated and described on
the main label. It is interesting to note
that the styles worn by the Woodland tribes
are mainly soft-soled, while the Plains
people used hard-soled moccasins, and the
Eskimo in the north and some of the
Apache and other Southwestern tribes
wore boots. From about the Mexican
border and southward, sandals were and
are very popular. The exhibit illustrates
among other things that the Algonkian
word "moccasin" now popularly applied
to all forms of Indian foot-coverings is not an
exact term by any means, but may be applied
to a number of differing forms of footgear.
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202
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Scalps
(Cases 109 C, 137 A)
Part of a case is devoted to a collec-
tion of scalps, which illustrate the well-
known custom of many American tribes —
the taking of the scalp of a slain foe as a
trophy. Sometimes a very small part
sufficed — a mere disc of skin at the point
where the hair separates; but sometimes
the whole scalp, with even the ears and
part of the skin of the face, was removed.
The scalps were scraped, stretched on a
hoop, and often painted on the flesh side,
in which condition they were carried by
the women in a triumphant "scalp dance"
on the return of the warriors. Afterward
they were decorated with beads and pre-
served as trophies, were cut up into small
locks as decoration for "war-shirts" and
under clothing, were offered up to tribal
deities, or simply thrown away. It is
interesting to compare the taking and pre-
serving of scalps among North American
tribes with the taking and preserving of
whole heads by certain South American
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
203
peoples, especially the Jivaro, as shown by
exhibits on the Second Floor.
Hunting Charms
(Case 137 B, 138 C drawers)
Another section of the same case is de-
voted to a collection of hunting charms,
mainly from the Crow Indians of Montana,
consisting of small bags containing magic
medicines to bring good luck, lucky stones
of globular form, and certain fossils known
to the Indians as "buffalo stones" from
their reputed power to attract buffalo.
The stones are usually covered with deer-
skin, but it will be observed that a hole is
almost invariably left in the cover so that
the "buffalo stones" may "look out."
The charms are profusely decorated with
strings of varicolored beads, feathers,
strips of ermine-skin, animal-teeth, and
the like, and the skin covers for the charms
are often handsomely beaded. One charm
is slung in part of a large conch-shell, which
must have come from the seacoast by trade,
perhaps from the Gulf of Mexico.
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204
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Modern Beadwork
(Case 135)
With the arrival of Europeans came
glass beads, which have been well received
by the Indians. Evidence of their extended
use is apparent in the exhibits, especially
among the material derived from the North
American tribes.
Some remarkable effects in color, design,
and technique were accomplished, calling
for inventive ability, taste, and skill. A
number of specimens have been segregated
for the purpose of drawing attention to
the clever manipulation of beads for decora-
tive purposes. As technique, however,
is the principal feature, an effort has been
made to show a few of the numerous and
intricate methods of sewing and weaving
beads, which to some extent are explained
by labels and drawings.
PORCUPINE-QUILLWORK
(Case 135)
Previous to the use of imported glass
beads, the Indians of some parts of the
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
205
North American continent used porcupine-
quills for ornamenting their belongings,
and the earliest travelers mentioned this
form of decoration in their writings. The
quills were steeped in dyes made from vege-
tal materials, resulting in some remarkably
harmonious color effects when the various
tints were brought together in working out
designs.
The numerous methods of fastening the
quills to the articles to be decorated are
even more intricate than those employed
in beadwork. In the section devoted to
this art are shown some specimens of sew-
ing, without the aid of a needle, which would
tax the patience and skill of the finest
needleworkers of the present time. Ex-
quisite effects in the weaving of porcupine-
quills are also shown in this section. A
number of the methods of sewing and
weaving are explained with drawings and
labels. (A work on the Technique of Por-
cupine-quill Decoration, with numerous
illustrations, has been published by the
Museum.)
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206
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In later years, commercial dye-material,
which is far easier to prepare and apply,
has supplanted the use of native dyes, to
the great detriment of the art.
THE ESKIMO
(West Hall. Cases 100, 101, 102)
The Eskimo are composed of many
cognate but widely separated groups which
inhabit the Arctic coast of America, as
well as Greenland, the extreme eastern
shore of Siberia, and the Aleutian islands,
a territory of about 5000 miles in extent.
The name Eskimo is derived from an Al-
gonkian term signifying "eaters of raw
flesh". They call themselves Inuit, mean-
ing "people". The Russian discovery of
northwestern America in 1741 proved
disastrous to the Aleut, for their numbers
were greatly reduced during the Russian
domination. The Smith Sound people
of the western coast of Greenland were
not known until Sir John Ross visited them
in 1818, at which time they knew little or
nothing of the use of the kayak or even of
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
207
the- bow and arrow. Many explorers of
the Arctic area subsequently recorded their
meeting with natives of that region, and
indeed Peary's attempts and his final suc-
cess in reaching the North Pole were due
The Eskimo Area
in great measure to the assistance ren-
dered by the Eskimo of Smith sound.
The objects in the collection exhibiting
the life and customs of the Eskimo may be
Culture
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208
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Foods
Raw
materials
Houses
said to represent six areas — Greenland,
Labrador, Hudson bay, Coronation gulf,
Mackenzie delta, and the Alaskan coast.
Except for minor differences, the Eskimo
are virtually uniform in culture, for their
environment, being very much the same
throughout the vast region occupied by
them, has of necessity brought about
similar living conditions, methods of se-
curing and preparing food and clothing,
conducting transportation, and providing
shelter.
The physical conditions of the Arctic
region almost preclude the use of vegetal
food, hence the Eskimo rely on seal, walrus,
whales, and certain land animals for subsist-
ence and clothing, as well as for a large
part of the materials used in manufac-
turing implements, kayaks, and sledges.
Driftwood is the only wood obtainable
in many regions, and remarkable skill and
ingenuity are shown in the use of that
valued material.
Similar housing conditions prevail
throughout the Eskimo territory — tents
of skin for summer, for winter dome-shape
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
209
shelters made of snow blocks, with a long,
low, tunnel-like passage for an entrance,
or the semi-subterranean house of the
Alaskan coast, which is built with a log
support for sods and earth. The Alaskan
people, however, rarely use the snow-house
except when hunting or traveling during
winter.
In the dwelling the lamp is an important
article, furnishing both heat and light.
Generally it is a shallow semilunar or
circular dish made of soapstone or of pottery,
in which seal-oil is burned, with moss for a
wick. Lamps of ovate form are found on
Kodiak island, Alaska. The rectangular
cooking-pots, also made of soapstone, and
in varying sizes, are suspended over the
lamp; and very often there is likewise
hung above the cooking-pot a rack on
which clothing is placed to dry. Rather
rude cooking-pots and lamps of pottery
are found in Alaska. Many forms of food
dishes and spoons are exhibited. Some of
the wooden dishes are worthy of special
notice by reason of the ingenuity displayed
Household
utensils
100 AC
101 BD
102
AND MONOGRAPHS
210
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Hunting
Fishing
Canoes or
Kayaks
(Above the
cases)
in bending and fitting two or more pieces
together in their manufacture.
The almost exclusive use of animal food
involves the expenditure of a great deal
of time and energy in hunting. Seal and
walrus are sometimes stalked while on the
ice; seal are harpooned when coming to a
breathing-hole in the ice, or both are
hunted in the open water from a kayak.
Land animals are hunted with bow and
arrow; birds are speared, snared, or caught
with bolas. Fish are both hooked and
speared. Meat and fish are eaten either
raw or cooked.
The kayak, or man's canoe, consists of
a skeleton framework composed of many
slender pieces of wood lashed together
with rawhide thongs and the whole covered
with seal rawhide excepting a small cockpit,
all the seams being made watertight with
firm sewing. In rough water the canoeman
wears a waterproof coat made of seaL in-
testine, which will be referred to later.
Kayaks to accommodate two or three men
are sometimes built on the Alaska coast.
The woman's boat, or umiak, built for
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
211
transporting loads, has likewise a frame of
wooden strips lashed together and braced
with rawhide thongs, which is similarly
covered with sealskins, but is not decked
as in the case of the kayak. Sometimes
these boats are from 25 to 30 feet in length
and are capable of carrying great loads.
Excepting certain variations in shape
and size, the principle of the. harpoon is
the same throughout the Eskimo region;
its function is to implant in the body of an
animal a detachable toggle-head provided
with a retrieving line. Various forms of
these are exhibited. The toggle-head is
an ingenious and important contrivance,
constructed in such a manner that a pull
on the retrieving line causes the head to
turn lengthwise across the wound, in which
position it is almost impossible for the quarry
to free itself. A lance with a fixed head is
generally employed to despatch the animal.
In connection with the light harpoons
with barbed loose heads may be seen some
thro wing-sticks, by the aid of which har-
poons are projected with great force. When
thus used, the harpoon is usually provided
Harpoons
100 A
101 AD E
102 A
Lances
100 A
102 A
Throwing-
sticks
100 A
102 A
AND MONOGRAPHS
212
GUIDE
Bows
Arrows
101 B C
102 B
with a small cavity in the end of the shaft
which fits on a spur at the extremity of the
throwing-stick. The harpoon is laid on the
stick, with cavity and spur together; the
thrower, gripping the two implements, raises
them shoulder-high, horizontally, with the
point of the harpoon toward the game; the
weapon is then cast at the mark with power
concentrated at the point of connection
between the cavity in the shaft of the har-
poon and the spur of the throwing-stick
This implement had a very wide distribu-
tion, its use, indeed, extending as far as
southern Mexico.
Of bows there is a wide range, from the
compound bow made of several pieces of
bone, antler, or muskox-horn, bound to-
gether and backed with sinew, to the power-
ful one-piece, sinew-backed, wooden bow of
Alaska. Of this, it may be said, a better
bow is not made by any of the American
aborigines. The arrow of Smith sound is a
non-feathered shaft of wood with a lance-
shape iron head, or with a bone or an antler
foreshaft and a small barbed point of iron,
in contrast with the well-constructed arrows
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
213
found to the westward. A feature of in-
terest in connection with hunting and other
implements is shown in the use of native
copper for harpoon- and arrow-points,
knives, etc., although stone and bone were
and still are employed in the manufacture
of these implements. One of the publica-
tions of the Museum treats of the copper
objects made by the Copper Eskimo.
The bolas are used for catching birds
while traveling in low-flying flocks. As
the specimens show, each bolas consists of
a number of pieces of bone or ivory attached
to strings, the ends of which are tied to-
gether. The bolas is thrown at a flock in
such a way that the weighted ends spread,
and either entangle or stun one or more
birds.
Another object of interest is a stool used
by a seal hunter while waiting for a seal
to come to its breathing-hole in the ice.
As absolute stillness is required for hunting
seal by this method, a piece of furry skin
is sometimes placed under the legs of the
stool to prevent them from scratching
on the ice.
Bolas
101 A
Hunter's
stool
101 A
AND MONOGRAPHS
214
GUIDE
Dress
101
102
Clothing exhibits a wide range in cut
and style. The highest degree of art in
the making of clothing among the Eskimo
has been developed in Alaska, where cari-
bou-skins are largely employed for the
purpose, while furs of other animals are
used for ornamentation. Allowing for
differences in style, a general description
of Eskimo clothing will suffice for the entire
area.
The coat is made to slip on over the
head, and is provided with a hood, which,
for men and young people, is made to fit
fairly snug; for a woman it is fashioned
large enough to cover also an infant when
carried on the back, but for children the
hood is often made separately from the
coat. In some of the women's garments
will be seen the large hood of the coat and
the pocket which forms a part of it, for the
accommodation of the baby when carried
on the woman's back. A leather thong is
passed around the woman's body below
the infant's feet to keep the child from slip-
ping. Beneath the coat is shown a pair of
women's long boots, each provided with
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
215
a large pocket between the knee and the
ankle, into which a woman often draws
up her feet when seated in the snow-house.
A curious hair ornament for women was
worn on the west coast of Hudson bay:
the hair was divided from front to back,
brought forward over the shoulders, laid
along a rounded stick, and spirally wrapped
with strips of colored cloth or of caribou-
skin. Several of these sticks with their
wrappings are exhibited.
The clothing of the Smith Sound Eskimo
is distinguished by the short cut of the coats
both for men and for women, so that in
stooping the waist is uncovered. Another
distinguishing feature is the materials
used: men wear knee-length breeches
made of polar-bear skin, frequently for
both summer and winter; the women wear
short, legless trunks made of the skin of
the fox or of the Arctic hare. The coats
for men and women for summer are made
of sealskin. Coats of fox and Arctic-hare
skins are preferred for winter use, with an
inner coat of bird-skins or sometimes of
caribou-skin.
AND MONOGRAPHS
216
GUIDE
Attention is called to the man's coat
made of blue and white fox-skins, of ex-
ceptionally good quality. Unfortunately
the Eskimo of Smith sound have not
developed the art of skin-dressing to any
great extent. Boots are made of sealskin,
with the hair scraped off for summer, and
for winter of caribou or polar-bear skin,
the fur left on, with inner boots or stock-
ings worn fur-side inward. Both men and
women wear breeches, varying in length
according to the local style. Usually the
woman's garment is shorter than that of
the man, so that a woman's boots are longer
than a man's, but both being made to
reach the extremities of the breeches.
During summer one suit of clothing is
worn, while in winter a double suit is used,
the inner one having the fur-side next to
the body; and the fur-side is usually worn
inward also in the case of boots and gloves.
For comfort when traveling or hunting
on the water in a kayak, a waterproof coat
was devised, as above mentioned. Made
of strips of seal intestine sewed together,
it is slipped on over the head; the lower
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
extremities of the coat are laid over the rim
of the cockpit of the kayak and there tied,
so that not only is the hunter's clothing
kept dry, but water is prevented from enter-
ing the canoe. Other objects made of
seal intestine are pouches for containing
trinkets.
To prevent snow-blindness, caused by
the glare of the sun on the snow, the Eskimo
have perfected snow-goggles, which differ
in form, material, and workmanship,
according to locality; but generally they
are made of wood, carefully fitted to the
face, with narrow slits or small elliptical
holes to look through.
The style in footwear varies according to
locality. A man's boots are usually knee-
length, sometimes made with the hair
scraped off for use in mild weather, or with
the hair left on for winter wear, during
which season is also worn an inner shoe or
stocking generally made of soft-tanned
skin with the hair left on and turned
inside. South of Norton sound socks twine-
woven of beach-grass are used. The same
description applies to women's footwear,
217
Pouches
101 A
102 A
Goggles
101 C
102 B
Footwear
101 A B
141 (East
Hall)
AND MONOGRAPHS
218
GUIDE
Skin-
dressing
tools
101 B
Basketry
100 C
Wood and
Ivory
carving
100 BC
101 A
Masks
100 BC
except that it is longer in the leg than the
men's boots. The Eskimo of Coronation
Gulf and the west coast of Hudson bay use
in addition, over their fur boots, a low,
slipper-like shoe, made of leather from
which the hair has been removed.
Various forms of skin-dressing tools are
displayed, one in particular being of interest
in that it is made to fit the hand, with
grooves for the fingers and thumb, which
afford a firm, comfortable grip for the im-
plement when in use.
From Norton sound southward the art
of basket-making is highly developed.
These baskets are made of beach-grass in
twined and coiled weave, and are of ex-
cellent workmanship.
Carvings in walrus and fossil mastodon
ivory were made both as ornaments and
as toys. Etchings on ivory objects, such
as pipes, bows for drills, etc., illustrate
hunting and other scenes, and in some in-
stances are records of important events
Other pipes are of wood, inlaid with lead.
Many Eskimo ceremonies are performed
for the purpose of bringing good luck in
INDIAN NOTES
FIRST FLOOR
219
hunting. Wooden masks have been found
in use among the Eskimo of the Alaskan
coast and the Aleutian islands, but they
have attained their greatest development
along the lower Yukon. Masks are carved
and painted to represent mythical beings
or animals supposed to have supernatural
powers. A number of large wooden masks
were found in a cave on one of the small
islands at the western end of the Aleutian
group, where they had been hidden from
Russian officials and missionaries who had
forbidden the natives to practise their
primitive rites and had ordered the de-
struction of such paraphernalia.
Faith in charms and fetishes prevailed
to a great extent among the Eskimo. Al-
most any object might have become a charm
or a fetish, its efficacy having been sug-
gested by dreams and visions. Stones of
unusual shape, and parts of animals, birds,
or plants, were often used with a firm be-
lief in their supernatural power, some more
efficacious than others. Some of these
may have been believed to possess power
to heal the sick, to bring good luck in
Charms
and
Fetishes
101 E
102 C
AND MONOGRAPHS
220
GUIDE
Fire-
making
101 B
hunting, to bewitch an enemy, or to guard
a traveler against evil spirits. Whatever
the functions of the particular fetish or
charm, it was carefully and reverently
guarded, and often propitiated with prayer
or song. Many such charms are displayed,
also the clothing worn by a medicine-man
when performing some special rite in con-
nection with his sacred objects.
A nremaking outfit consists of pieces of
iron pyrites and grass-seed down. A sharp
blow on the pyrites, preferably with a piece
of steel or iron, produces the necessary
sparks; these are caught in the downy
tinder, which smolders and is blown with
the mouth into a flame.
INDIAN NOTES
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